GENNS

2008-06-10T16:50:00.003-06:00

We are trying to get back to some degree of normalcy around here. Gus is experiencing some sort of anxiety (as far as we can figure out), so we're just trying to be patient with him and give him some time. He's really clingy to me and is having a hard time sleeping. We've pretty much got naps back in order, so it's just the nights we need to work on now. A couple of nights ago he would only sleep if we were holding him - now he just wants to sleep in our bed. I'm told these are all normal things. He has been through so much, I just need to give him some time.
My sister left this morning. It was so wonderful to have her here!!! We had a great time, and I'm not sure I would have done to well without the help. She helped me get the house all clean so I wouldn't have to worry about it for a few days. Anyway, it's so wonderful to be on our way back to normal life. God has been incredibly good to us.

thankful

2008-05-20T09:11:00.003-06:00

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness. We have recieved so much from our friends and church family. We got a huge basket of stuff at church on Sunday, and then a recieved a package from my MOPS group. We got so many things to keep Ella occupied, snacks to keep us going, blankets and sleepers for Gus, magazines and books, gift cards for restaurants, toys and groceries - not to mention enough Starbuck's to keep us awake the entire two weeks! At church on Sunday they prayed for us and wept with us and surrounded us with love. God is so good!!! After a somewhat hard week it was exactly what I needed. Anyway, I am trying to keep everyone updated on a carepage, so you can see what's going on. Thank you again for your prayers.

Life

2008-05-12T13:37:00.002-06:00

Well, we've had a busy few weeks. Grandma and Papa came to visit for a couple of days and then Nana and Papa were here for a week. We had a great time with both of them. Ella learned how to ride her trike - and she loves it. I'm pretty excited about that because she isn't a huge lover of the outdoors and that helps her want to get out. Gus got a tooth this weekend so he's been a little crabby - plus that means that he has to go to the dentist before the surgery. Just add it to the list. It's kind of funny that the last two saturday nights before mother's day have been some of the worst sleeping night ever for our kids. I mean really - how do they know???!!! But I got the most thoughtful mother's day present - I'm going to pottery classes. Something I've wanted to do for a really time. I'm super excited. I had a wonderful mother's day in spite of a bad nights sleep.
Hmmm, what else? I'm still running, we're up to 7K with about a month left until the race. Josh is getting a new espresso maker that he's really excited about.
About Gus: He's doing really well. He's happy and learning new things and growing a little bit. He can wave hi and is learning he can get places by rolling. Today I found out that they have a tentative date for surgery - either the 22nd or 23rd!!! That is such a relief. The unknown is the worst part. We'll find out for sure on Thursday. Please pray that he can just stay virus free until then so it doesn't get cancelled.
We'll keep you posted.

Running

2008-04-27T15:13:00.005-06:00

So, I'm trying to get into running. I've posted before about how every spring I think I want to train for a marathon, and it lasts for about a week. Well this year I took a different aproach. I decided I would try to train for a 5 K and work up from there. So I ran 2 races last week. Today someone told me that running is addictive. Boy will I be excited when that day comes!! I'm definitely not addicted, I could probably never run again and be totally ok with that. But I will keep going - I am on the 8 week plan for the 10K - we'll see. Anyway, here are some pictures.
This was last Sunday's race with my friend Abbie. She's my running buddy. It was -12C, and really windy. Not exactly a good way to start, but I guess it can only get better.

Attractive
And get better it did. This was my race yesterday with Deb and Joyce. It was beautiful out! Pretty much perfect, and look at that view!
And I did have a lot of time to look at the mountains since they left me in their dust. Speed really isn't my objective yet. This is me crossing the finish line.
Ella and Meadow were playing and eating raisins together. Until we had to take them away because they found a pile of elk poop. Raisins and elk poop look a lot alike.

Photos

2008-04-17T14:22:00.004-06:00

So, I have added some pictures here , and two movies, here and here . We're having a busy week - Ella's been sick and that always seems to drain me. I hope I think twice the next time I think it's a good idea to take a two year old with diarrhea to the grocery store. I've done a lot of laundry this week, but at least now everything is clean. Tonight we are doing an Indian theme for small group and I made butter chicken for the first time. It's pretty amazing- not thanks to my cooking skills, but just because that's the nature of butter chicken. Well, hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Josh is off work tomorrow and I'm going to get my teeth cleaned. No end to excitement here.

Prayer

2008-04-15T22:12:00.004-06:00

Well, I just want to let everyone know that we are all doing well. We don't have a date for the surgery yet, but they think it will be the first or second week in March. At first I just wanted it over with, but I think it's probably best that I have a little time to prepare myself for all that will happen. He is gaining a little weight each week and his oxygen levels are good, so they aren't too worried about him at this point. However, I would like to have the surgery over with before they start really worrying. We had to go to the hospital last Thursday and again on Monday. They have a little daycare there for siblings and patients, and let me tell you, what a lifesaver. On Monday it took 2 1/2 hours and it was during Ella's naptime - so she would have been a bear for me, but she's always an angel for strangers.
I can't begin to tell you how many people have been praying for us!!! God has sent so many encouragers our way and I am completely overwhelmed. I have to tell you that I have been very convicted to learn that complete strangers are praying more for my son than I am! I am trying to pray more for my family.
I've always told myself that my kids belong to God, but I don't think I really felt that way. Now, I have no choice. There is absolutely nothing I can do to help Gus, and God is totally in control of His life. The day after the diagnoses I was singing Jesus Loves Me to him and when I came to the line "little ones to Him belong" I just started to bawl, and then I began to trust. God is giving me peace.
I'm so thankful God hasn't given up on teaching me things, even though it seems like I have to learn them over and over.
Thanks for your prayers!

Gooey

2008-04-03T17:35:00.002-06:00

That happens to be one of Ella's many nicknames for our sweet little boy. It also happens to be Josh's favourite out of all the options, and what he is often called. Poor kid. Anyway, this post is not about his nicknames, but about his heart. He was born with a heart murmur, something quite a few kids are born with, but they are often closed up by the time they are 6 months. Well, at a checkup at around 5 1/2 months his doctor decided to send him to a cardiologist. They made an appointment for May 12. Since then he has not been gaining weight, and even dropped down at one point. So, she requested that his appointment be moved up. So, today we headed down to the Children's Hospital for a echocardiogram. They took pictures of his heart for about three hours due to the fact that I think he had a crush on the ultrasound technician. He just smiled and charmed her, and wouldn't hold still, so they had a hard time getting a good picture. He is such a sweet little boy. He hardly cried at all with all this poking and prodding. Just kept smiling. In the end, they told us that he has something called Tetralogy of Fallot. This is a congenital heart defect that means (in my very medically uneducated terms) that he has a large hole between two of the chambers in his heart, and that his pulmonary valve (which brings blood to his lungs) is too narrow. I think there are 2 other symptoms, but they didn't seem as serious to me. Anyway, the bottom line is that he will need to have open heart surgery probably within the next month to repair the hole and expand the valve. I'm sure you can imagine that this is extremely hard for a mother to hear. I am having a rough time, but I keep reminding myself that God is in control. So we will be heading up to Edmonton for about two weeks while all of this happens. It all seems so overwhelming right now. One good thing about having your appointment at the Children's Hospital is that you get to see that this is really quite a minor thing compared to what some kids go through, but it doesn't feel very minor.. So, please continue to pray for all of us - we really need it! I'll let you all know when we hear more.

Talking to God

2008-03-24T08:36:00.004-06:00

So, I need to get back into blogging - and I figure a cute little story is a good way to start.
Josh was putting Ella to bed the other day and they were having a conversation. It went something like this.
Ella: God made the stars. Josh: Yes he did. Who made daddy? E: God. J: Who made Ella? E: God. J: That's right. God made everything. E: Where is God? J: Well, he's everywhere. E: I wanna see God. J: Well, you can't see God, but you can talk to Him. E: I'm gonna talk to God, and He's gonna talk to me. So she sat there, looking out the window up at the stars. J: So what did God say to you? E: I love you.

I can't help but thinking "You have no idea Ella, how much that is true," but maybe she thinks the same about me. The faith of a child is an incredible thing.

Error

2007-10-22T23:34:00.000-06:00

Well, for some reason I haven't been able to put pictures on my blog. I'll keep trying to figure it out, you know with all the spare time I have these days. Until then, click here to see some recent pictures.

Ella and Gus

2007-09-24T11:03:00.000-06:00

I had to switch to small pictures because we got a new camera and I think the bigger pictures are too big to load or something - antway I'll try to figure it out.

2007-09-18T22:26:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess it's time for a little update on the Genns. Gus is doing well - it feels like he's been with us forever. I think he's a good baby. It's hard for me to say because Ella was a basically perfect baby and I think he's just pretty normal. He's so sweet though, I can't get enough of him. I was worried that I wouldn't feel the same "awe" that I felt when we had Ella and let me tell you that I feel just as in love with Gus. His sleeping wasn't going so well, but last night he only got up once - so hopefully that will last. Some of the novelty of Gus has worn off with Ella, but she still gets pretty excited when she sees him. She's adjusting really well to life with him around - I guess we all are. I helps that Nana and Papa are here to entertain her. It's been so nice to have them around. Our church has been bringing us meals for two weeks, which has been amazing!!!! I feel so spoiled, but tonight is the last one, so back to cooking - sigh.
Anyway, I know some of you have been waiting for the birth story - so here we go. I started having labour pains around 4:30 Thursday morning. Around 9 we went for breakfast with my parents and they were getting fairly strong and were like 5 minutes apart. Since the hospital is like an hour away I thought we should head in. Now, after 2 deliveries - I've learnt a few things - I do not progress very quickly. One thing I didn't want to do was go in and be sent home - but that's exactly what happened. You think I'd learn, but no. Like, I'm supposed to know what I'm doing by now. Anyway, I got there around 11, and the doctor said not much was happening yet, so It would pass the time a little more quickly if we went into town and walked around and stuff. While we were out they got to every three minutes and were a lot stronger. So, at 5 we headed back - once again - nothing going on. Are you kidding me? But she told me to stay and get some rest and hopefully things would pick up soon. So, I took a nap and my contractions almost stopped all together. When I got up, they started again - but they were back to about 10 minutes apart. So at about 9 I went out to talk to the nurses. They called the doctor and she said I should go home. The last thing the nurses said to me was "It's probably just Braxton Hicks." Thanks a lot! So, my parents had already checked into a hotel in town and offered to put us in a hotel room for the night. So we did, and the contractions just kept getting stronger - but they were pretty irregular. So, I wasn't sure what was happening. So I let Josh sleep and I dealt with contractions all night. If I was walking around they were like every 3 minutes, if I was trying to sleep they would wait like 12 minutes. Finally from about 7-8 in the morning they were consistently every 3 minutes and absolutely unbearable. Finally I woke up Josh and told him "OK, I don't know what's happening, but I need drugs" So, he showered and took all the time in the world. In the middle of a brutal contraction he came out of the bathroom to tell me something was wrong with his contacts. Uh sorry, don't really care - can we please move a little more quickly? So we got to the hospital around 8:45 and they put me in a room. The nurse was filling out charts and I was trying to be patient - but finally I was like "I would really like some drugs" So much for all natural. So she told me she would just check me out and see how far along I was. So she did and told me that I was fully dialated - awesome. She said no time for drugs, the doctor would come and break my water and the baby would come. Sure enough the doctor was there 5 minutes later, she broke my water (so I didn't go totally natural), I pushed for 15 minutes and we had a little boy. The cord was around his neck, so they were a little concerned about him - but he was fine. They said it was the best thing for him that my water didn't break - so God was taking care of Gus (as I already knew). For all of you pregnant with your second baby - from my experience, the second delivery is much easier than the first - but labour is labour.

My pictures aren't loading... hopefully soon.

Gus David Genn

2007-09-08T17:45:00.000-06:00

So, little Gus made his way into this world at 9:41 AM on Sept 7. He was 7 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long - not bad for 2 1/2 weeks early. We are both doing really well. Ella is a little too excited - all she wants to do is hold and touch him. Well, enough talking - here are the pictures.

Poor little blue baby. The cord was wrapped around his neck, but it didn't take too long for him to get his colour back.

The last picture of the family of three.

Such a nice picture.

So do you think these 2 could maybe be siblings? Yeah, Ella is the one in the pink.

2007-08-29T22:05:00.000-06:00

Such a beautiful girl!
How did she grow up so fast?
This is from our youth canoe trip a couple of weeks ago. Ella loves the water, only up to her butt though because it was super cold.
I don't think I've ever seen her do one thing for so long. She sat for hours making "stone soup"
These two pictures are my favourite - maybe ever. Josh doing his two "most favourite" things - hanging out by the water and playing with his little girl.
This was taken at 4:30 in the morning! Josh had to go to Winnipeg for the day for work, so I sent Ella along to hang out with Grandma. We told her the night before - and she woke up so excited to go see "Mama and Papa" with just daddy. This is her waving bye-bye to me.
We had a little weekend family camp with our church. Ella loves hangin out with "Shon"

The van and the belly.

I wanted to write more, but I'm out of time for now. Hopefully soon...

Bad days and best days.

2007-07-23T14:56:00.000-06:00

So, today was one of those bad days. I woke up this morning stressed out about all I had to do - and the house was already hot. I got a little work done, and then I started thinking too much (always a problem) and before I knew it I was just bawling for no reason. I called Josh and just cried to him, but he's working about 2 1/2 hours north of here and couldn't do much to help... or so I thought. I am a very prideful person - something I need to work on more - and there is no way I would call someone to help me. Well, Josh decided to call my freind Abbie and tell her I was having a rough day. She was home today studying for an exam and doesn't have any kids. So she was willing to drop everything, come on over, bring me flowers, do my dishes, mop my floor and take Ella for the rest of the afternoon! I am crying now as I write this because I am so overwhelmed by her kindness. So even though I have plenty to do, I knew I needed to post this while the emotions are fresh. God is so good to provide for me even when I am at my most selfish point. Now I need to pray to be able to see when someone else needs the help of a friend. So today I thank God for friends and a husband who sometimes oversteps his boundaries only out of love for me! Bad days sometimes end up being the best days.

Abbie, her husband Cam and dog Coda

Update

2007-07-18T10:29:00.001-06:00

So, I added some pictures, but I guess that doesn't really let everyone know how we are doing. This has been an incredibly busy summer - and I'm not even sure what we've really done. Only 10 weeks till the baby is due and the last 2 weeks have been really hot here. This area is not really prepared for heat. Nobody has airconditioning - even a lot of restaurants don't. The nice thing is the nights usually cool off, so at least we can sleep. Needless-to-say I've been a little uncomfortable and lazy. Today I'm so sore - I went to yoga on Monday and I'm a little out of shape. I have never been to a yoga class before and I really enjoyed it. I've always been a little leary - you know the whole Hindu thing - but there wasn't one word of "higher powe" or meditation or anything of the sort. I'm sure some are different, but this one was really good. Anyway, we are kind of working on potty training - it's going alright. The other day Josh was going to get the mail, so he took Ella along. (the mail box is just a little down the street) So, I forgot that she was wearing panties, which I put on her when we're home to help her know when she pees. Anyway, standing in front of the mailbox she just squats a little and goes on the sidewalk. Josh was so embarrassed and the walk home she just kept turning around and yelling "I pee, I pee." Funny girl. Anyway, we obviously have a ways to go. So that's all I have the energy to type right now.

Summer Frivolities

2007-07-17T21:52:00.000-06:00

Well, this will be a long one - since it has been so long, but at least there will be lots of pictures. First off, we were in Winnipeg a few weeks ago visiting family. Sadly, these are the only pictures I took. I really need to get better at this.

Then my parents came out for a little while. These are pictures of a lovely evening we had at our friends Darrel and Sharons. Probably the best hosts I've ever met.

The cutest icecream cone ever.

Papa and Ella going "wheeee" (that's what she says when she sees this picture)

Grandma just watching.

Just eating up the attention

She loves this new book Darrel and Sharon gave her.

On Sunday afternoon we went to the creek to beat the heat. It was such nice family time.

I'm not sure what that face means

Later on we met up with the Falconer fam.

BFF's

Sitting in her new rocking chair, wearing her new dress Nana sent her. Thanks Nana!

The rest of the family...

2007-06-11T17:52:00.000-06:00

Wow, an actual picture of Josh and I

We were trying to compare our big bellies. I'm pretty sure I win.

I just love this new dress on her. It's just so summery.

More Ella

2007-06-08T18:13:00.001-06:00

Here are some recent pictures of our lives - well, Ella's anyway.
She loves corn-on-the-cob.
Not sure what that face means.
This is the face she makes when she wants to say no, or is just not pleased with something.
Hangin' with Ocean and Meadow
Cooling off in the pool.

She loves Marissa - one of the girls in our youth.
Her first time wearing pig tails! So cute!

You can't catch me!

2007-05-26T23:09:00.000-06:00

Well, I got tagged. I've been putting this off, because, well I'm really quite boring... but here goes. I'll see what I can come up with. (For those of you who don't know. I have to give 8 interesting/weird facts about myself and then tag 8 other people to do the same) Sorry in advance to those of you I tag.

1. Having Ella caused my body to trade in a milk allergy for a fish allergy. The weird thing is that fish was the only thing I craved while I was pregnant with her.

2. Sometimes when I am somewhere really high - like a building - I feel an incredible urge to jump. (no, I'm not suicidal)

3. I love the idea of reading, but I'm really quite bad at it. I have numerous books that I have purchased for myself and never read. So sad.

4. I used to want 10 kids, and I wanted all boys.

5. I only lock the door to our house when it's a mess. Like I don't want the robbers to see our mess, but they can take whatever they want any other time. How warped is that.

6. I literally want to throw up when I see someone wipe their childs face with a dishcloth.

7. I ate my first peanut and jelly sandwich in college. I can thank ol' Aaron Oskey for that one.

8. I don't do it very often, but I could kick most peoples butts in a belching competition if I had to.

Now this is the hard part:
I tag: Sarah Gullacher, Chelsey Beda, Pam Meister, Karen Adams, Suzanne Dobbertin, Jenecia Griffiths, Shyla Rohrer

hmmmm

2007-05-25T21:59:00.000-06:00

So, she got out of the dryer, but...
This picture was a little staged. She got in head first and I spun her around for a better picture.
This is what we woke up to on Thursday! Crazy weather - and today was beautiful. I'm just thankful all my flowers are ok - the snow insulated them from the cold. That one dead looking plant was already looking that way. They can outlast the cold, but can they outlast my sad, sad not-so-green thumb?

2007-05-04T14:50:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a while, so here are some recent pictures of Ella.

Don't you just love little baby legs?

The swings are still her favourite

Ocean and Meadow had a sleepover the night Blue and Deb's baby was born. Samuel Forest was born on Good Friday - they are all doing well.

She loves helping Josh.

Baby

2007-04-24T17:52:00.000-06:00

Well, these may not be the most exciting pictures to some of you, but to me, I will never stop being amazed at what God can do in creating new life. These are from my ultrasound today, and I absolutely love the second and third pictures where you can actually count out the babies finders and toes. The technician couldn't get all the pictures she needed, so she thought I would probably have to comeback for another ultrasound. Oh darn, like I could ever get tired of staring at my child. She couldn't tell what the babies sex was, but we don't want to know anyway. At least this stopped me fram changing my mind at the last minute. That's probably part of the reason Josh comes along because he doesn't trust me with surprises (rightfully so), and obviously because he wants to see the baby - not to mention the fact that I beg him to because I can't carry Ella with such a full bladder. Well, I hope you are as in awe of these as I am.

Oh Ella, where are you?

2007-04-08T22:40:00.000-06:00

The other day Ella and I went downstairs to do some laundry. After I was done I told her to follow me upstairs. Well, for some reason she just wanted to stay down and play. For those of you who know Ella that is quite unusual for her because she normally just likes to be wherever the action is. Since there are only who of us during the day the "action" is wherever I am. So I thought I would just let her hang out for a little while and go check on her often (our basement isn't exactly a good play area). So, after going down a few times, the next time I went down there wasn't a sign of her anywhere. I was calling and looking and she was gone. I was starting to get a little panicked. She usually would just respond right away or make some kind of noise anyway. Well finally I looked more closely to where she was playing the last time I saw her - right nest to the washer and dryer - and sure enough, she had crawled into the dryer. She brought all her blankets downstairs, had pushed them into the dryer and gotten right in with them. She was so happy just playing away. I told Josh the story and he got kind of freaked out. I told him there was no way she could shut the door on herself, so no need to worry. He said "yeah, until she has a little brother or sister to stuff in!" So true.

Spring Fever

2007-04-03T16:43:00.000-06:00

Well, the other day it was beautiful here, and I totally caught a bit of spring fever. So, Ella and I headed out to the garden store. We bought some poppy seeds, tomato seeds and different herbs. Then we got some little flowers that you keep inside for awhile and then transplant them. They were on sale, so hey why not. They also had some gardening gloves on sale, so I got myself a pair, and then they had little kids ones with frogs and Ella loved them, so once again, why not. They were only 98 cents. So, the two little gardeners went home and got to work. Here are a few pictures of Ella "working" The one with the glove in her mouth is showing how she takes them off - just like an adult would do- well maybe not with gardening gloves, but you know what I mean. Funny girl. Now there is snow on the ground the ground, and it is cold, so my fever has been put on hold - I'm sure it will return soon.

Some new pictures, finally!

2007-03-24T15:41:00.000-06:00

Ella got a haircut recently. This is a before shot. Below are some after shots. I didn't realize how crazy it was getting until after it was gone.

Sweet shades! If you zoom in on this you can see some of the van inerior through the reflection in the glasses. (And where we stopped for a little treat)
She loves to take the laundry I'm folding and dress up. You can tell how productive my days are.

Mmmm, carrot juice.

Such a pretty girl! Half the fun of spring is the new clothes!

Home Sweet Home

2007-03-14T13:31:00.000-06:00

Well, I can't find the cord to download pictures right now, so words will have to suffice. Just let me tell you, it is nice to be home - it's also really nice to hear my husband say over and over that he's never going to let me go away again. It's nice to be missed. We had a good time, it was actually quite relaxing. Me mom let me take a nap quite often while she took care of Ella, that was great. We got to meet Ella's baby husband Eli Drew Ramsdale. He is quite a precious little thing, and Ella really liked him. She actually loves babies, but what little girl doesn't I guess. All in all it was pretty uneventful, except for me puking on the plane home during the turbulence while holding onto Ella. And then she cried because she hates it when I puke - she's so sensitive.
I'm not really sure what else to say - my mind's pretty blank - oh pregnancy brain - don't you love it?
I'll put pictures up soon.

2007-03-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

Oh where to begin. I feel as though my life has been crazy lately. We have been flying, and it is not quite over yet - but I'll give you a short (hopefully) synopsis of what's been happening. On Valentine's Day my nephew Barrett flew into town to stay with us for 10 days. He was great, and we had a lot of fun with him - but it did keep me busy. We went to the zoo, the dinosaur museum and the science centre - not to mention numerous games of mancala and Settler's of Catan. He loves playing games and would clear the table while Josh and I were still eating so he could set up a game for us to play. I also love games, so it was a lot of fun.
Well, the day after he left we got up at 3:30 to be able to catch our flight to Vegas. No, it wasn't a fun filled trip of gambling our life's savings away, but rather to pick up a van that Josh bought on ebay. A little nerve racking since you are never quite sure what you are going to get on ebay, and since it wasn't exactly new. It is an '89 VW vanagon, and let me tell you it is quite a sweetheart. We drove it all the way home without too many problems, and even spent the night in it at a truck stop in Montana. The back folds out into a queen size bed so the three of us were quite comfortable. I'm sorry to say I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll try to get some up soon. On the way home we stopped in the beautiful town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We spent a couple of days there with our dear friends Robbie and Krista Morford. There were plenty of laughs and good 'ol Northland stories told. We also saw Todd and Jennifer Lamppa. It's kind of cool how even though we haven't seen them in almost 2 years, Robbie and Josh act as though they've never been apart. They are quite a pair. Jackson hasn't gotten a lot of snow this year, but we woke up the morning after we got there to almost a foot of fresh snow, so the boys went snowboarding all day.
On with the story, so we got home Thursday evening, and my parents were in town on business. So, we spent a couple of days with them - and then they got the bright idea of taking Ella home with them, and I would go out next week to get her and stay for a few days. Since they have been begging me to come for a while, I thought I would. So Josh and I are officially baby free - except for the giant that is growing in my belly! I feel huge already, I'm a little scared.
Anyway, tomorrow I head out to Winnipeg for a few days. Boy, I didn't realize how hard it was to leave Ella, I cried at the airport, but by the evening I had gotten into the swing of things. We went to the bookstore so we could look at magazines without anyone trying to rip the pages out. We went out for dinner and just sat there for so long drinking tea, and today Josh said "Boy, you can get a lot done without Ella along." So, it has been fun, but I sure do miss my baby. Here are a few pictures to remind us all of how cute she is.

Water Baby

2007-01-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a funny little story about Ella. Yesterday we went over to Blue and Deb's house for dinner. Meadow made quite a mess during dinner so Deb put her in the tub. Ella was hanging out with her just watching from the side. So I was cleaning up a little and just thought I would look in on them. Well I look in the bathroom and think "Oh, Deb decided to put Ella in the bath too". Well, as I get a little closer I notice that she is completely dressed. That's right - t-shirt, jean skirt, tights and leather booties, and she is having the time of her life. It was like she didn't even notice that her clothes were still on. So I went through the aweful chore of taking off wet clothes and let her play in the tub for probably over 1/2 an hour. She thought it was awesome to have a bath with other kids. She would pour water over her head and then just laugh hysterically. The only reason she wanted to come out was that Meadow was bribing her with a cookie. Anyway, Deb found some pink princess pajamas for her to wear, and there was a princess toque lying around so I put that on her to. Deb went into the bathroom to clean up and Ella followed her in. She was draining the water and turned around to hang up a towel. From the corner of her eye she sees Ella straddling the tub and before she could grab her she was back in the now one inch of icy cold water wearing pajamas, a toque and eating a cookie - and she couldn't have been happier. At least Josh got his wish - she definitely loves the water. I'm sorry to say that the only picture we got was on Josh's phone, but I'll try to post it later.

Youth

2007-01-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

I had a busy but great day for a monday. This afternoon I went out for lunch with Marissa, one of the girls in our youth. It's so awesome just to feel like I am beginning to build a relationship with them as they are starting to trust us and we are learning to love them more. I can really see the Lord working in my life to even be able to reach out to them. I am just so thankful that He has called us to this ministry at this time. This weekend we had an activity planned, but we needed other people from our church to pull it off. Sadly, we had no volunteers and I was quite sad. So we came up with another activity and about an hour and a half before the activity we had a parent think it wasn't such a great idea. (We were going to play hide and go seek in an empty newly painted house and they thought we may damage something) So we cancelled that, and I was just plain annoyed. Josh was trying to think up something else and I was just like "No, I'm done! No youth this week" So we called all the kids and told them the sad news. Well within a half an hour they had all called each other and then called us back basically demanding that we have youth. So, Josh was just going to go so I could stay with Ella - but they pretty much begged me to come. Now if that wouldn't make you feel good I don't know what would. It was so encouraging to see that they really want to be there. It was the most encouraging youth activity we've had yet. In church on Sunday we were singing Indescribable by Chris Tomlin and one line says "you see the depths of my heart and you love me the same" and that just became so real to me. On Saturday night the depth of my heart was annoyance, complaining and self pity - but God still gave us an awesome night that I could never have planned to matter how hard I try.
Just a little family phot from our trip to the hot springs.

Bust a Move

2007-01-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

2007-01-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's wrong with the sound. Sorry my voice sounds so annoying. Isn't her hair awesome?

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

2006-12-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I just wanted to write a little something to let you all know that we haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I'm not sure why I haven't been blogging, but I guess it's just not a priority right now. I have been quite busy, but guess what Kelly, it's Christmas - the whole world is busy! Tomorrow we are going on a skiing trip into a hut where we will be staying for a few days. No nothing romantic or anything - there will be 17 of us all together - but it definitely should be fun. I'll let you all know how it went. Have a great weekend.

Trick or Treat

2006-11-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween Part 1:
Boy did we have a good halloween. We went to the mall (as mentioned earlier) and walked around and got candy. She ate 3 suckers while we were there. Wow, more sugar than she's probably ever had. Then we came home and hung out for a while just waiting for the trick or treaters. Now let me tell you, I'm not very experienced in the halloween department. In fact, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE HANDED OUT CANDY IN MY LIFE! I grew up out of town, and since we've been married we've gone to a harvest party at our old church. So, as you can imagine I was very excited. I thought kids started coming right after school, so we waited and waited and then realized apparently 6 o'clock is the time to start - because they started coming from everywhere. So I put Ella's parka on (because it is freezing here) and we waited by the door. When the kids came, she would just stand there and yell at them and wave her arms around like a crazy woman and try to chase them out the door. Now she wasn't doing this because she was scared or anything, but because she was so stinkin' excited. She chased them because she wated to go with them I think, or at least get really close to them. Josh came home shortly after it started, so he did the handing out for a little while while Ella and I walked around the cul-de-sac so we could meet the neighbours and Ella (i.e. mom) could get a little candy. Good thing we did, because we ran out and had to give the stuff we gathered away. You don't want to anger the little devils.
Halloween Part 2:
At 7, I left the house to go to a friends for a "girls scary movie night." What a great idea since we all know that when girls normally get together they watch "chick flicks", hence the name "chick flicks." So there were about 7 of us, and a few of them were pretty late. I felt bad about being 20 minutes late, and I was the first one there. Anyway, we chatted for a while, drank coffee, ate cookies - blah, blah, blah. Finally at 8 we put in the movie. We watched "The Village" Now this was chosen on purpose, because when Lauren invited everyone she got quite a few "now how scary do you mean"s out of us, so she took it easy. Now don't get me wrong, we were still scared, there was a lot of screaming and holding hands and what not, but the movie really wasn't that scary. I acually enjoyed it. Now the ending was not too great, and the story it self lacked a little, but it was incredibly clean, with even a little romance to make all us girls happy. I give it a 4 out of five. Now, I'm not to picky, I like a lot of movies - so don't take that too seriously. I'm sorry if you rent it from my reviews and hate it.
Anyway, all that to say, we had a great halloween. Here's the little lamb - oh and click here to watch her in action.

OK, OK

2006-10-26T18:59:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess it's time to update all our adoring fans on the life of the Genns. My parents were out here for a few days. We had a great time of shopping, eating out and even playing a little Rook. Of course Ella got a new wardrobe, and when my dad was around got to eat cookies for lunch. I was a little jealous of the cookie part - actually I got one too, it was just after lunch instead of replacing it. Ella was such a grandma's girl, crying whenever she left her. Smart kid. We had a great weekend. Friday we went to our friends Max and Lynda's - played some games, chit-chatted - you know "old people" stuff. Stayed til 1 - the Genns are gettin crazy! Saturday we had youth - played more games. Then for the first time we met the youth at Starbuck's before church for a little Bible talk, and amazingly almost all of them came. Well, there are only 5 to begin with, but you gotta start somewhere. We're thankful for the ones we have. They really are amzing kids, pretty much just accepting us with open arms... and they even clean up when they leave someones house - wow! Sunday, went to church, had a loooooong worship meeting, and then had a relaxing evening at home. Anyway, today is Halloween, so the little lamb and I are going to the mall for a little show off and candy for mom. Here are some recent pic's.
She can even make tights look good!
Beautiful girl
My grandpa made this for her.
What a great gap ad.
Look at all that hair
She was just sitting like this playing one day. I think she looks adorable.

Spurts

2006-10-13T13:45:00.000-06:00

Well, I've discovered I'm a "spurt" blogger. I get really excited about it, where quite a few of my thoughts are "ok, what can I blog about next" and then, I just don't think about it at all for awhile. Actually I'm like that with a lot of things when I think about it. Oh well, here are some great pictures.
Click here to see a cute little video, I'm just learning, but there should be a few more soon. I probably could post them, but this is easier I think.
cutest little butt you ever did see
enjoying fall
the barrette is supposed to make me look like a girl, but I just look like a grump
naked baby with a toque
come on in, the waters warm - excuse the floaties.

My Old Man

2006-10-03T22:17:00.000-06:00

Well, today is Josh's birthday. Sort of a quiet, reserved affair - just the way he likes it. We went out for the traditional latte and muffin breakfast, our favourite. Actually Josh just got an americano and I got the latte - felt like my birthday, what can ya do. We had the same thing for Ella's birthday and she doesn't even like latte's! Anyway, he worked, I shopped - hey, maybe it was my birthday?! Then tonight we had small group, Blue and Deb brought us Crave
cupcakes. They are unbelievable. So even though I was supposed to go running with my Nano tonight, I can't get off the couch. Back to Josh, so today he turns thirty. Yes, I am officially married to an old man, but he still looks mighty fine! :) All I bought him was a magazine subscription, some long johns and some undies. How pathetic is that? Actually when you've been running out of underwear it's pretty darn exciting. Love ya hun, looking forward to the next thirty!

The options are endless really.

2006-10-02T22:38:00.000-06:00

Boy I've just been blogging up a storm lately.
We go to a small church in Calgary that is mostly made up of young families, and that means lots of kids. Well when we first started going there I realized that Ella was among one of the only girls in the whole bunch (that has somewhat changed since then, but whatever). So, I started hearing a lot of mother's "claiming" Ella as her future daughter-in-law, and being quite adamant about it. Now let me tell you, she has quite an age range of boys vying for her attention. Liam was in good standing till he slammed her head in the toybox in the nursery - but now he likes to tickle her and she loves it, so he might be working his way back up. Blake is the quiet but handsome type - I'm not sure how she feels about him, but he sure is cute. Leif and Reid don't really seem to have any interest in women - so much so that when she was at their house a while ago I told Reid to tell me if she was bothering him and I would take her away. He looked at me and yelled in his little Beaker voice "Take her awaaaaay!" Then there's Christian. I would never have thought of him as a candidate until his mother voiced her opinion to me, due to the fact that he is eight. But older men aren't always so bad I guess. Well, he definitely jumped in the lead by buying Ella a pair of shoes the other day. He really likes her, and is always looking at shoes for her, how sweet.
Anyway, that got me to thinking about bringing back the old dowry - well I guess for us to get money it's actually called bridewealth, but whatever. Like it's looking like we could definitely get some good coin for this kid, she's in high demand,like I was thinking a winter home in Costa Rica perhaps... hmmmm. But I do have to let all you boys know that if baby Ramsdale happens to be a boy, Ella is officially spoken for. He is already referred to in the Genn home as "Ella's baby husband" Ella and Earl - sounds like a match made in heaven hey Keri.
But either way, Leif and Reid you better get your act in gear or all the good girls are gonna be taken. One thing for sure, she is not allowed to marry Benjamin Vater, because then her name would be Ella Vater! Ha!

Spoiled Rotten

2006-10-02T11:12:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday Josh had to go work in Rocky Mountain House for a few days, so I decided to go along. We stayed at the Best Western and they were out of single rooms, so we got a jacuzzi suite instead! Now it wasn't exactly a vacation since Josh had to work, but Ella and I had a blast. We swam and watched TV and napped together. Just chillin, the two of us.
The only downer on the weekend was the BRUTAL speeding ticket I got on the way out there. No, I do not want to talk about it, but in my defence, it was my first ticket since I was a sophmore in college. I was pretty worked up about it, because tickets have gone up a lot since the last one I got. Anyway, I came home on Saturday afternoon, and Josh arrived later in the evening. On the way home he had stopped to buy me me a present, and he gave me an iPod Nano! Now my husband gives great, thoughtful gifts for Christmas and birthdays and any other celebration, but he NEVER just brings home presents for no reason. But, he just wanted to bring me something nice because I was down about the ticket and because he thought I deserved it. Like I didn't cost him enough this weekend! What a sweet, sweet man. I feel quite spoiled, but I'm very excited about the nano... now I just gotta dust off my jogging shoes. Not only that, he also finished off the tiling in the entryway!
Oh, the wonderful life of Kelly Genn!

OH HE'S SO CUTE!

2006-09-27T22:24:00.000-06:00

"Thank you, but she's actually a girl." That has been a common conversation for me lately - the plight of poor blonde babies. It usually then continues something like this "Oh I'm so sorry, it's hard to tell" or "Oh, I should have known by the socks" or the overly polite people " Of course, she's so beautiful, how could I ever think she's a boy!"
Now this doesn't really bother me. It is quite hard to tell sometimes, especially when she's wearing green or brown. I still get the comments sometimes though when she is entirely in pink. Like, how cruel do you think I am, dressing my boy in pink!? Anyway, I still just smile and politely answer, knowing some people just don't think before they talk.
But, what really gets me going are the downright rude people. "Oh, it's a girl? Wow, she really looks like a boy. Don't you think she looks like a boy?" Are you kidding me, like weren't you taught to not always say exactly what you are thinking. I guess I just don't get it. Like do you think I can do something to change the fact that you think my child looks like a boy, or maybe I will just figure out that I've been wrong all along. "Wow, it really is a boy. Thanks so much for pointing that out."
All I ask is please, if you get it wrong, just don't try to change my mind. I think she's beautiful, so just say sorry.

The Big Dipper

2006-09-24T17:45:00.000-06:00

If you are looking for a post on astronomy, you will be greatly dissappointed, but if a post on mothering is alright read on.
Lately Ella has been determined to feed herself and finger food isn't good enough, oh no, it's got to be the spoon. So I will let her help me bring it to her mouth. That is no longer good enough, now I need to let go. This is incredibly hard as I just picture a head full of applesauce, not to mention her clothes or my floor. So there have been quite a few battles lately with her throwing fits because I won't let her. Well, I'm starting to realize that I need to go through this at some time, unless I still want to be spooning food into her mouth in grade 10. Soooo, I'm walking through the grocery store and something catches my eye... the BIG DIPPER. A big grippy handled spoon with no wrong ways to put it in your mouth. Now I realize this is just a big scam, but I have been intrigued by many a scam in my life. Like the solar powered LED flashlights - oh wait - that was my dad. Sorry dad, just couldn't resist, we've all been suckered in a few times, but when you start getting the shopping channel catalogue you know things have gone too far.
Anyway, back to my story, I bought the big dippers, knowing the day was drawing near. So, yesterday I buckled her into her highchair, threw on a bib, gave her a tub of yogurt, a big dipper and let her have at it. So, here's how things turned out. So you ask, "where exactly is the big dipper?" You guessed it, thrown overboard while diving in with both hands. Actually, it's not too bad, she must be a natural eater - gets it from her mama I guess.

Honey, hurry home!

2006-09-23T11:48:00.000-06:00

Well, Ella and I have been spending some quality girls time together. Josh went out of town on Thursday morning, and will hopefully return late tonight. He has never left us for the night before (that I can remember), so I was a little nervous. However, he has worked very late quite a few times, and from that I have learned to not stay at home all day, because then the evening draaaaags on forever! So the last few days have been quite action packed. On Thursday we had the longest MOPS meeting in history. 10-3:30 whew, then I had to run home to clean the house for small group. Well, then we decided at the last minute to not have small group. Richard Blackaby was speaking at the seminary, so we all went there instead and went to Josh and Khara's afterward for dinner. We didn't get home till 10:30, so Ella was sleepy. Great thing though, Ella didn't cry in the nursery (which she has been doing a lot lately), and I was able to find a babysitter here in Cochrane - yay, the same girl who was able to keep her quite in the nursery. Anyway, on Friday we slept in til 9:30, when the cats away the mice will play - and play we did. Then we went shopping all afternoon. I got some great pants at Costco, some fall decorations and some Christmas wrapping paper. Yeah, it made me a little sick too, but it was nice paper. Then we went home, went for a little jog, Ella went to bed, I made some caramel corn - amazing - and watched a movie. This is the life. This morning we walked to Timmy's and I bought Ella her first honey cruller - and can you believe it - she didn't want it!! All she wanted was my bagel, so I had to force myself to eat it, someone had to. Then we walked to the farmer's market and bought some veggies. We definitely need em after all that junk. Now Ella is sleeping and I get to blog. All that to say, even though we are having loads of fun, I miss Josh terribly and can't wait for him to get home.

My sister and her family brought this towel for her from Disney World - doesn't she look adorable!

I'm Baaack

2006-09-14T21:06:00.000-06:00

So happy!!
Mom, are you gonna make it?
Sweet outfit.
How can you say no to eating dirt when she's this happy about it.
That's right, just standing there.
Recently I was on a blogging hiatus. When I first started my blog, I really couldn't get enough of it, but as with a lot of fads, it lost its excitement and I got a little bored. I kept going, knowing people wanted to see Ella, but then I just kind of quit. Well, last week I went to Winnipeg on a little trip. While I was there I had so many comments about being a little sick of "princess Ella" - well not exactly, but you get the picture. It made me realize how many people are interested in our lives, or at least interested enough to take a peek. So I thank you, all my fans out there, and it's because of you that I press on.
Let me start with bringing you up to date:
1. I sadly never mentioned the fact that while we partied with princess Ella, another wonderful thing was happening that day. Josh and I had our 5th wedding anniversary. While she was being born, I knew that our anniversary would probably not be celebrated for the next 18 years, and year 1 proved me right. Even though we tried, it just didn't happen. I guess next year we will need to try a little harder. These last 5 years have absolutely been the best of my life, and I am still amazed that he chose me to be his wife. He is an incredible man, and I am honoured to wake up next to him every morning. Actually, he is usually gone by the time I wake up - but you get the picture.
2. Our church has just asked us the be the new youth leaders. We are excited and quite nervous. We will be taking over October 1. Please pray for us as we step into this new job.
3. Ella is walking. Well, not really - but she does take steps once in a while. She took her first ones Aug30, so any day now she will be running around everywhere I'm sure.
4. Everyone I know is pregnant. Well, once again not really. But all the people from Winnipeg who I was pregnant with are now pregnant again. So, I thought I might be getting ready for another one, but now I'm not going to be a copycat. Sorry mom.
5. I really need to clean my house.
6. For my birthday weekend, the 3 of us went to Waterton for a little vacation. We had so much fun together. We went camping, and even had to hike in to our campsite the first night. That was the first time doing that since Ella. It was a little crazy, but for the most part a lot of fun. Then we went out for a birthday dinner on Sunday, and birthday latte's on Monday. Wonderful!
7. I made some really good chili for dinner tonight. I struggle with chili, so this is a big day.
Well, there you have it. I'll try to do better from now on.

Princess Ella

2006-08-10T09:40:00.000-06:00

Well, yesterday was the big day. Ella is one year old! It's so hard to believe that it has already been one year since our little Gus was born - only he turned out to be a she. It has probably been the best year of my life. It is such a priviledge to stay home with her and experience everything again through her eyes. She has taught me so much and has rebuked me a time or two. Like when we are in the grocery store and she makes noise to get peoples attention so she can smile and wave at them. I wish I was more like that. I can't remember what my life was like without her. Thank the Lord for the last year I have been able to spend with her, and for everyday he chooses to give me from here on out.
We had a little party for her last night. Just a few friends and of course cupcakes!! Here are some pics...

Well, this was before the party ever began when she got a hold of the icing whisk. Honestly, I didn't give it to her, she just knew it would be good.

The pretty girl. Don't you love the sign Josh found to put up for the party?

Oh yeah, this is good stuff!

On to the chocolate.

Alright Ella, that's disgusting!

Crazy dad

Just a few of the party guests

Nihahi Ridge

2006-08-01T09:07:00.000-06:00

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Well, on Sunday we decided to go on a little hike. It was a beautiful day, and we didn't want to waste it. So we headed out to the Elbow falls area to hike the Nihahi ridge. It was to be a 3-4 hour hike. It was quite steep, so after about an hour we stopped for a little break (that's where the pictures of Ella and I were taken). As we were there it started thundering and lightning so I requested we head back down. We got out our rain gear, and as we started hiking, it really came down. Then it started hailing like crazy. It rained and hailed the whole way down. Thank the Lord Josh remembered the umbrella - our little Ella was so warm and cozy she even fell asleep, doing her bobble head impression. (I was a little thankful for the rain, since it was one of the first hikes since the bear incident - except for with the teens - but what bear in his right mind would attack a group of 14 teenagers?) Gosh my hair looks bad, sorry about that.

EJ

2006-07-31T19:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I know Grandma and Nana have been waiting with bated breath for some new pictures of Ella. Well here are a few of the soon to be birthday girl. Ella went on her first canoe ride the other day down the mighty Bow. We went with our friends Josh and Khara. It was a beautiful day, but of course a rain cloud had to go with us all the way down the river, but that didn't stop us from having a blast. Luckily we had an umbrella or it probably wouldn't have been as fun. We didn't take any pictures of the trip, but I just wanted to show you her lifejacket.

Chateau Genn

2006-07-25T09:35:00.000-06:00

We have had a busy week here at our house. My sister, her family, and 14 teens from their youth group came to stay with us from Tuesday till Saturday. Wow, pure craziness. We went hiking at Lake Louise on Wednesday, then to Banff for the evening. On Thursday they volunteered at this lodge, and then we camped that night. Friday morning we went on a 5 hour white water rafting trip, then we went back to our house for a few hours of fun before bed. Then they left at 6 the next morning. It was a bit of a whilrwind. Josh found that sight while they were digging through scrap metal at the lodge, and thought it would be perfect to hang on our house while they were here. We did have a great time.

2006-07-21T13:03:00.000-06:00

2006-07-20T14:31:00.000-06:00

Well on Nana's request, here are a few more pictures of Ella. It's getting harder to get pictures of her, because she just wants to see the camera and play with the string. She is always on the move these days. I'm constantly chasing her around, but I don't mind (well, most of the time anyway). There's nothing else I'd rather do.

2006-07-12T12:01:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been a little too long since I have done this. We went to Winnipeg for Canada Day, and stayed for the weekend. Then Josh came home while I stayed for a few more days. It was a fun time seeing my family. I didn't really see too many friends, I just spent the days with the fam. We went to the zoo, went strawberry picking, hung out at the cabin and went shopping. I got back on Friday - and I can't really remember what we did on the weekend - just spent time together I think. My sweet husband had the house nice and clean for me and bought me a coming home present - some new earrings. This week has been pretty laid back, but I have a lot to do for my sister's youth group coming to stay with us. The basement is a disaster! I hung out with my MOPS group yesterday and last night some guys came over for wings night. Well, it's good to be back in the blogging world.
when you live in Calgary...
crazy kid
Happy Canada Day!
these things are awesome

Ode to the Rowdy's

2006-06-29T16:08:00.000-06:00

We just found out the most wonderful news
Of the Ramsdale famile there will no longer be twos.

But an itty bitty Ramsdale is on the way,
Sometime on a January day.

A cute little one it will be for sure
And the worlds about to get a little rowdier!

We love you guys, congratulations!!!

Craft Time

2006-06-22T13:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I know it's not polite to brag... but I am just so proud of myself. I am not a crafty or artsy person - or anywhere close to being one. But every once in a while I feel the urge to try something new. So a friend told me how to make this easy quilt, and I thought "I should make something for Ella." So I bought some material (which Josh always discourages - since I have plenty of "good intention" yarn and material in the basement), but this time I was determined to prove him wrong... and I did - not only that, I enjoyed it!! I know it's far from perfect, there are tons of flaws, but it was definitely made with love.
So here it is, I hope Ella is happy because it's probably the only thing I'll ever make for her. Sorry sweetheart, but I'll take you shopping.

Where did my baby go?

2006-06-21T13:45:00.000-06:00

Well, just a few more pictures of Ella. She had an ear infection a couple of weeks ago and it took her a while to get back to normal. It's good to have our happy baby back. I guess I should stop calling her our baby, since she really isn't one anymore. I can't believe how grown up she is. (Have you notice my lack of blogging since she's been mobile?) I feel like I say no 1000 times a day - and it's only just begun!

Father's Day

2006-06-17T20:20:00.000-06:00

Well, I've had a post to write about my dad for quite some time, but now's about the perfect time to write it. I have a wonderful father who I know loves me so much. A few weeks ago he came out to Calgary on business for a few days. It was the week I was staying with Deb, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to him. On Thursday though I went to MOPS, so I thought it would be a good day for me to at least go out for lunch with him. I knew he would be really busy, but I also knew he wanted to see me for a little while - so it worked out well. I got to the office around noon and after a lot of gushing over Ella I asked him where he wanted to go for lunch. He said "Well, I'm all done here and my plane leaves at 6 - so do you want to go shopping?" So we went out for lunch to Kings for Wor Wonton Soup and then we were off to the mall. He took care of Ella while I tried on clothes. Then he bought me a now outfit for the wedding we went to last weekend. It was such a nice surprise for him to take the whole afternoon off for me. Thank you for that dad, and for loving me so much.
I would also like to pay tribute to the other dad in my life - my father-in-law. Everytime we are with them I am more thankful for him as I see that many of Josh's best character traits are just like his dad. Thank you for raising such a godly son.

this week in review

2006-06-16T09:07:00.000-06:00

Well the last couple of days I've been trying to think of something to post about and nothing has come into mind. I guess that means that our life is incredibly boring. I'll tell you what we have been doing though. Josh has been working a lot! I started teaching Sunday School at our church for the 5 and 6 year olds. Great fun. We started a home group at our house. We had a cool MOPS craft this week that we prepared all day on Monday. They were eye-spy bags. You sew up a bag (like a bean bag but bigger) with a clear vinyl window in it. Then you fill it with rice and different little toys and whatever. The kid has to look for everything you put in the bag (you put a list on the back). Tuesday night I babysat. Wednesday night I played my first game of Bunco. Interesting. Tomorrow I am working at our MOPS garage sale and BBQ while Josh guides his first rafting trip. Now I just need to plan for Father's Day... Hmmm, doesn't sound so boring after all. Here are just a few pictures of Ella to keep everyone happy.

Those are some big eyes.

While I was loading pictures I did think of a little story. The other day we were late for something and running out of the house. I had to strap the car seat in, so I left my muffin and Ella on the floor while I ran out, not thinking anything of it. I left the door open, and I couldn't heear any noise, which was kind of strange. When I came back a big chunk of my muffin was missing and I had a very happy little girl. I just thought she would be intimidated by the saran wrap. ha!

weekend widows

2006-06-06T10:05:00.000-06:00

Well, it wasn't exactly the weekend, but that sounds better than Tuesday through Saturday widows. Last week Josh and Blue went on a river training trip. So I went to stay with Deb and help her out. She has 2 kids and they run an ice cream business in the summer. (See my reasons for going weren't to be nice... hello free ice cream!) We had a great time, but it was pretty busy. She worked in the evenings so I took care of the kids. I learned that three kids are hard work. Ocean is 31/2 and Meadow is 11 months. Deb forced me to jog in the mornings, and on Thursday I had to come back for MOPS and my dad was in town on business so I wanted to see him. Busy week. The boys surprised us my coming home late Friday night. So nice. So on Saturday we went out for breakfast to one of my favourites, The Summit Cafe, and then we went for a hike with Roly and Lisa. So it was quite a crew going down the trail, and wouldn't you know it, but we came across a huge grizzly with 2 cubs. That was crazy scary, but she just kept going off in the woods, not that we stuck around to watch her or anything.

The 2 little trouble makers - Ella and Meadow

Quite a character this one.
Just a few pictures or our hike.

Blue, Deb, Ocean and Meadow
Roly and Lisa - they're getting married on Saturday!!

white trash baby

2006-05-29T18:29:00.000-06:00

Today Ella was eating her sweet potatoes and wearing her wife beater. (Mom, that is the term they use for tight white tank tops that men who stereotypically beat there wives wear) Funny baby. You think we could do a little better at getting them in her mouth.

This is her new shy face.

On the move

2006-05-25T09:52:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been happening for a couple of weeks now, but Ella is definitely crawling. She now follows me down the hall and eats every little crumb on the floor. She's everywhere. She really has mastered it, but as you can see, it's still a little easier with no pants.

Oh Mom, thanks so much for bringing me this friend to play with. She really likes to talk to the garbage can and kiss it. Kind of disgusting, I have to clean it a lot. Poor lonely child.

Long Weekend

2006-05-23T08:53:00.000-06:00

What a great long weekend we had. The weather was great, and the weekend was action packed. It all started when Josh got home early from work on Friday. It always throws me off when he does that. I'm like a little puppy, I get so excited I just don't know what to do with myself. We went shopping a little bit, and then got to go out for dinner to the Vietnamese Noodle House. It's one of our favourites. Cheap and good. I got 28 for the first time, and Josh got his usual 37C. Later we had someone over and played Settlers. The next day we had a few things to get done, like buy a baby gate, since Ella is officially crawling - and getting mighty good at it. So we just had fun doing errands. Errands are so much more fun when Josh is with me. We got home late and grilled steaks without a BBQ. That was interesting, and a story by itself. On Sunday we went to church and quickly got home afterward because Josh was itching to get on the water. He was so excited to get back in his kayak. So we drove out to canoe meadows to see if he could go down the river with a few people. There was no one just going out, so we drove to the put in spot. Let me start by telling you that I was a little nervous about him going. Kayaking always scares me a little, but last weekend a guy got pinned under water for 5 minutes, and it's a miracle he's even alive. And now Josh is a dad, so I just worry a little more than I used to. All that to say we drove up to the spot and the name of it was the Widow Maker. Awesome, that really helped me out. Oh well, with all my worrying he made it out OK and even got to do a second run. Then we went to Canmore to visit Blue and Deb's Old School Bus which opened this weekend. We spent the evening hanging out, and I got a double scoop coconut strawberry in a waffle cone. Wow! On Monday we headed out for Canmore again. This time I was going mountain biking with Deb, Roly, Lisa and Mr. F (Blue's dad) That's right, Josh was babysitting. Something he hasn't done very often yet. He was excited, I was scared. Hadn't been a bike in 2 years, and had never really been mountain biking. So we did a trail that brought us right into Banff. It was 20K, and lot of downhill, and a little bit of up. Wasn't too tough, but my butt is REALLY sore today. Josh made out well also.
Anyway, this is getting way too long, so that's my weekend.

I did it!

2006-05-23T08:45:00.000-06:00

If you look at the bottom of my sidebar on the right you will see a little map. I saw it on Christina's blog, but didn't think I would ever be able to get it on mine. I am so proud of myself, because there it is. Now I am trying to figure out who all visits my blog. I would love to hear from each one of you, so log on and say hi. Or you can go to my profile and email me from there. I think I know 2 of the dots over in the eastern side of the world, but that one in the middle of the ocean has really got me wondering!!

THAT'S ONE HOT MAMA

2006-05-17T17:18:00.000-06:00

We have been having record breaking temperatures here in Cochrane. It doesn't bother me too much, but today I saw a pregnant friend of mine, and it brought back terrible memories. Last summer was soooo hot, and we lived in that trailer with no AC. We finally got a window one, and I made Josh put it in at like 11PM because I thought I might die. We made a tent over in with a sheet and slept under it on the dining room floor. I just wanted to post a few pictures to make me thankful that I am not pregnant during this heat wave. You'd think with 9 months of pregnancy I could just plan to avoid those 2 1/2 months of summer. Too bad babies don't work that way.

Check out those thankles. No not cankles, those babies went straight down from the thigh!!

Hey lady, you're blockin' the waterfall.

Family

2006-05-16T09:29:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures of all the people Ella has been spending time with lately.

Nana and Papa came to stay with us for a week. Papa did all of our yard work, and Nana played with Ella. Fun for everyone.

Ella and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's in Winnipeg for a week.
Grandma thought Ella needed a wagon ride. I'm not sure who was having more fun.

Grandpa and Ella just hangin' out. I have another picture of him letting her suck on a licorice pipe. What a terrible influence. :)

Grandpa great - my grandpa. Such a sweet man. Ella is so lucky to have godly grandparents and great grandparents.

Just sitting outside with grandma great.

Blaire and Amber are enjoying this photo shoot much more than Ella. Barrett didn't make it in the picture.

Having some fun with Mikyla and Jaden.

This is GG - Josh's grandma. We haven't seen her since Christmas, but I didn't want to leave her out. I love this picture.

Ella Bella

2006-05-16T08:57:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I've put any pictures up of Ella. This one is a few weeks old, but I just think she's so cute in it. I know I've posted a few pictures that look like this, but I just love her face in this one, with those two big teeth. She's such a happy little girl - most of the time. We've had a rough go of it lately though. I think those grandma's have been a bad influence on her. :) She is still learning to crawl. She can do it on carpet, but all we have is hardwood. So she gets stuck on her belly and can't get up. So I have to be there for her all the time. I try to let her work on it herself, but you can only let her whine for so long. To finish my Mother's Day story. On Saturday night Ella had the worst night sleep of her life. She was up for probably half the night. Then we had to get up for church, she pooped through her outfit on the way out the door. Then for her nap in the afternoon she cried for like an hour. She NEVER does that. I guess she just wanted to remind me being a mother isn't always easy. But in the end, as I watched Josh rocking her to sleep, I realized that I couldn't ask for anything more. Oh, and grandmas, thanks for loving my little girl. I don't mind a few rough days so you can have some fun.

And it was a doozy

2006-05-14T18:53:00.000-06:00

Well, it was my first Mother's Day, except for the one with Ella still in the belly. (That one doesn't count too much because back then I thought she was a Gus)
Well, I was pretty excited, but not too excited, because I'm always dissapointed when I have too many expectations. So lets recap on the whole weekend. On Friday night I flew back from my week in Winnipeg. I packed all of my stuff a few hours early, and decided I would only need 2 diapers for the flight - only 3 hours. Well little did I know what Ella had up her sleeve... well not really her sleeve... you know what I mean. So she had 2 big "crunches" (Ryan and Keri I hope you read this - because that ones for you) before we ever left for the airport. That never happens!! So I told myself to get out some more diapers before we left, of course the mothering brain kicks in, and I forgot. So while we were on the plane I remembered, and all the diapers are stowed below. Well, I thought she can sit in a wet diaper for 3 hours, not a big deal. Besides, she already pooped twice. Ha!! So about 20-30 minutes prior to landing I start to smell something. Well, I try not to think about it, hoping she'll just be happy till we land. Poor kid, but what else was I supposed to do. A minute later I pick her up, and I feel something very wet. I flip her around and yes, she had exploded out the side. (The downer to nursing) So I'm trying to figure out what to do, and we had already started the dessent, so I was stuck in my seat. The one great thing is that I had an aisle to myself. So I start to investigate, and things were looking bleak. It was all over her sleepers and the outside of her diaper. So I cleaned her up as well as I could and put her jeans and t-shirt back on her from before. That's right, no diaper!! I was hoping for the best, but of course about 10 minutes later I had a very wet lap. So I'm sitting there trying not to freak out, and trying to think of a way out of this. The plane was just landing at this point. So I waited and then as everyone else got off, I tried to call Josh - no answer. Then I just had to tell myself to suck it up and deal with it. Josh wasn't going to come on the plane anyway. So I put her in her sling, thankful to Keri for the long tail to cover my wet lap, and off I went. I took a peak, and you couldn't even tell that we were both wet and poopy. So I made it to the luggage, went to the baby room where we both changed and got washed up. What a night. OK, well this post didn't exactly get to the actual Mother's Day, but that will have to come later.

He's done!!!

2006-05-01T18:06:00.000-06:00

One decade ago, January 1996, Joshua Genn entered the NBBC campus, with a promise to his parents that he would stay for one semester. Well, one semester came and went, with many more to follow (with one or two "forced" absences in the middle. Finally May of 2001 rolled around and it was his turn to graduate. He had learned a lot in those 5 years. Perhaps more from experiences than from books, but a lot nonetheless. A few days before graduation his parents come out along with my parents, his future in-laws. They were to meet for the first time. So this was a big weekend in more ways than one. His mother came bearing congratulation chocolate bars. 90% hardwork, 10% fun - or something like that. Well, the day before grad he got the news that he had recieved a D in Greek. Not so bad, except that he needed a C to pass. Well, with the words of his teacher ringing through his head "Well, you should have told me you needed a C", Joshua sat through graduation in the bleachers wearing a hawaiian shirt instead of a cap and gown. They told him he had 5 years to complete Greek....
Well, we got married that summer, and time flew by. Before we knew it, almost four years had passed and we were eagerly expecting a baby. It was then that we realized that if he wanted to finish his schooling, he had to be registered for the upcoming school year. So we started looking, and realized that there weren't a lot of good Bible schools in Canada - especially ones that Northland would accept Greek credits from. We "accidentally" heard about CSBS. We had been to Cochrane before, and had no idea there was a seminary there. So we went to visit, and spoke with Dr. Booth. (He teaches Greek). He told Josh that he had never failed anyone before. Josh took that as a challenge, but I was sold. Well God wanted us here. It still seems so wierd that we moved across the country for one Greek class, but we all know that God has bigger plans than we could ever imagine. So, Joshua started Greek in August. More than once he seriously considered quitting. At one point I thought he would. It seemed like there was no way he could pass. Then I realized what Dr. B meant - they all quit before he had a chance to fail them. So Josh went to talk to him and he said he thought Josh could make it - so he kept going. On Monday he took his final - we were all on pins and needles. All Dr. Booth said was "You need a C? Well, you got it." By God's grace he had passed (and a little from Dr.B) I'm so proud of him. This may seem like a small thing to most of you, but this was a mountain to Josh. Actually, he's climbed mountains, and this was way harder than that. So next Saturday, Josh will be graduating from NBBC. We won't be attending, because truthfully he doesn't really care about that. He doesn't really care about getting a degree, or knowing more Greek (even though he thinks it's important). This was about finishing. Something he started 10 years ago is now completed.
Now I'm just waiting for a phone call from Northland "Well, I just wanted to let you know that we have changed some policies. Yeah, there's this prison trip...."

Splish, Splash I Was Takin' A Bath

2006-04-20T19:25:00.000-06:00

The other night, well actually a while ago, Josh gave Ella a bath. She loves the water and he likes to put bubbles on her head, so really it was the perfect combo. He is also much better at taking pictures than I am. These are some of my favourite pics.

Easter

2006-04-18T15:49:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures of Ella in her Easter dress. We had a wonderful day.

Good Friday

2006-04-15T09:14:00.000-06:00

Ella was able to explore in the grass for the first time yesterday. She found lots of things to play with and look it. Not chew on - hence the soother in the mouth. It's so neat to watch how amazed she is be a little stick (yes, that's a stick), or by the grass. So I thought that I couldn't think of a much better Good Friday for an 8 month old than to experience some of God's creation for the first time and to spend time with people who love her. I guess I couldn't think of a much better Good Friday for us either. This weekend we just need to take some time remembering what Christ has done for us.

wheeeeeeeeeee

2006-04-12T17:15:00.000-06:00

I am looking forward to spending the summer with Ella. We have had a few days of nice weather and today we went to the park behind our house. Ella got to ride in a swing for the first time and she thought it was so fun. It is so special that I can stay home with my baby and share all these firsts with her. I wish I knew how to post the video I took so you could really see how much fun she was having. These will have to do.

Sorry

2006-04-12T09:57:00.000-06:00

Well, life has been busy in the Genn household. Yes I know it is the same for all of you out there- I guess I should say it was just a little busier than normal. Since moving to Alberta we have had so many visitors (which is wonderful). There are a few things that contribute to this. The top one being Ella, second is that I've never lived outside of Winnipeg and third being IKEA. For Spring Break my niece Amber came to visit, the day after she left my parents and another niece, Blaire came for a week. Next week Josh's parents are coming. It is so wonderful to see them all - but I get tired out. We run around doing so many things. Ella slept all day on Monday - I wanted to.
All that to say - sorry for my lack of blogging.

Ella

2006-03-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, I am so happy that this worked. I have been struggling with blogger lately. (I really have no clue what I am doing)
Here are just a few pictures of Ella.

Such a happy baby.

She is fascinated by her tongue.

A face only a mother could love!

Ok, now that I look at it, it didn't really work, but at least you got to see Ella. I'm working on it.

The Great Outdoors

2006-03-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for my husband's love of the outdoors. Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) he thought we needed to go do some sort of exploring. I wanted to take a nap. Well, at least he knows how to get me to do something. He told me I could take a nap on the half hour drive out there. (Not that he really knew where we were going). So we get packed up and we were on our way. He drove, I slept. When I woke up we were in some parking lot with horse trailers and cars and people with cross country skis. I thought it was a little cold for the baby (and for me) and wasn't too excited, but hey, I did get to sleep, so I needed to go. So we got on this path and started to hike. It felt so good to be out there, and Ella loved it. (You can tell my the permanent bend in her neck that she didn't want to miss a thing). We had so much fun, and I was truly thankful that Josh brought me out there. Oh yeah, about those horse trailers - people use the paths to exercise their horses.

SPRING IS HERE!

2006-03-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Every year around this time I get excited about the thought that summer is coming. With that excitement comes the idea that I should get in shape. For some reason it is always a half marathon that pops into my mind. So I get pumped up, and I start training. Thinking the whole time that I can do this. About a week later I realize what a dumb idea it was and put all marathon thoughts away till next spring when I drag them back out again. You think I would learn, but every year I get just as excited as the previous.
Well, this year was no different - well maybe a little. I decided to take it a little easier put my energy towards a 10K instead, and I thought I would tell a few people to give me some accountability. What was I thinking?? Before I knew it, I had 4 friends deciding to run with me!!! Not only that, they decided that I should present this 10K to our MOPS group, and that I should head it up. Are you for real? I am NOT a runner!!! Do you hear me? I don't run. I think in my head that I do, but I've never gone more than a half an hour... and that was a long time ago. Pre baby days.
But at this point, I'm still kind of pumped. I still think I might be able to do this. So I get out the stroller and Ella and I head out. I decide to walk for 10 minutes, jog for 10 minutes, walk for 10 minutes. So the first 10 minutes are great, then I start to jog. I look at the clock 11:07. Alright, here I go. Okay, getting a little tired - just keep going. Getting really tired - keep going. Just look at the clock, encourage yourself. 11:07 WHAT? I haven't even been running 1 minute? What am I doing out here? Well, I managed to go 4 minutes, thinking I was going to die. But I made it - 4 whole minutes (or close to). How am I ever supposed to run 10K?
So, here I am, trying to encourage other people to run with me when I don't think I can do it myself. I'm even supposed to find us matching pink tee-shirts! What have I done?
Well, Josh is just laughing - "How are you going to get out of this one Kelly?" Well, I was thinking about my options...
an injury or getting pregnant...hmmm.

calling all readers

2006-03-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

I was thinking the other day that I would like to get more books for Ella. Reading to your child is such a wonderful thing, and it is being quickly replaced with TV. We have gotten rid of our TV (do to my addictive personality) and reading has become a better alternative. So, that brings me to the purpose of this post. I would like all of you out there to tell me what your favourite childrens books are. Whether they were read to you as a child, or you are reading them to your children, or if you've just heard that they were good. I would like Ella to grow up knowing all the classics that somehow I missed out on. Do it for Ella, and hopefully any other child out there whose parent is reading this blog. So all you book lovers out there, please help me.

Dad and Baby

2006-03-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

Well another project in our house is nearing completion. It always sounds like it will only take a couple of days, but, well, life happens. So now our bathroom is getting close, and tonight I was really busy and Ella was cranky so I asked Josh to hold her for awhile. My choice would probably have been to rock her, but as you all know Josh and I are very different people. All I heard from the bathroom was "We should start a home improvement show Ella. It could be called Dad and Baby." Oh so creative. What a funny little family I have. She actually was pretty happy sitting in the sink. Who knew.

so much love in a bottle of TIDE

2006-02-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

I feel as though I need to share this with all of you. This month Josh and I spent a lot of money on things that we probably didn't need. We bought a new couch, re did the bathroom and paid some big bills. By the end of the month the money was gone. So for over a week I wasn't able to buy any groceries and meals were getting, shall we say, creative. I wasn't really worried, but things were getting low. On Thursday morning I told Josh laundry would have to wait till next week because we werre out of detergent. Well, that afternoon I went over to a friends house. While I was there she took some leftovers out of the fridge and offered them to me. I politely declined, but she sent them with me anyway. I was so grateful, and told her a little bit of our situation, telling her how thankful I was for the food. She then proceeded to grab me and pull me into the kitchen and fill up bags of groceries for me, then she took me to the pantry downstairs and did the same thing. She had a full bottle of detergent on the shelf and said "I got this for free, do you need it?" I couldn't lie, and she could tell we did. (this whole time I was putting up a big fight). Now this couple is not rich, God is taking care of them, but they have 5 children and her husband is in the ministry - you know what that means. I often have so much more than I need and spend money foolishly, but she didn't care about that. She saw someone in need and wanted to help. She showed me Christ's love, and I was amazed. God cared about the fact that I had no detergent. Why? I guess because I'm His child. The next Sunday her husband got up in church and shared about how as a church, we need to do life together, and they clearly demonstrated that. It is amazing to see God working in my life right now and I pray I will be able to show Christ's love to others - everyday. God is so good.

Let's do the Care Bear countdown

2006-02-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Blaire, this one is for you. Ella in her new pajamas, and even the whole family. Now that is rare.

so blessed

2006-02-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today I went for a walk with Ella here in beautiful Cochrane. I started to think about how much I have to be thankful for. My life has changed so much over the last year, and at times it seemed so stressful. But looking back I see how much I have to be thankful for.
Joshua is an incredible man who I still can't believe chose me to be his wife. I see that even more now that I see him with Ella. He is such a hard worker, and incredibly funny, and loves me so much.
Ella. She has taught me how sinful and selfish and imperfect I am. And that I need to work on so many areas so that she has someone to look up to. In spite of all that, she still loves me and wants me more than anyone else, and laughs at my stupid faces. It won't always be that way I know, but I can be thankful for now.
Family. I didn't realize how much I needed them. They are so loving and care about me so much. I miss them a lot. I am also realizing how thankful I am for my in laws. They are incredibly godly people who are true examples to me. Ella is so blessed to have 2 of the best sets of grandparents there are.
Friends. I am a terrible friend. I am never doing what every friend should do, and yet I still have friends. You have been so faithful to me. Please don't give up on me now. I'm working on it.
God. He has taught me so much lately about Himself. I need Him so much, and I am so ungrateful at times. He is patient and forgiving every time. Wow.

I have so much to be thankful for.
Kelly

cute floor!!

2006-02-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you have asked for pictures of our new flooring. This is probably the cutest floor that you can get. It cost a lot but it is definitely worth. it. (The baby part that is.)

Baby eating blueberries

2006-02-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

What a beauty!!!!

Babies change your life

2006-02-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

I would probably have never made a blog if it wasn't for Ella. People want to see her, so here I go. It does seem a little exciting mind you. We got the internet and a phone last week. Now I'm a blogger. Genns welcome to the 2000's.