Memories Monday Part 3 (years 4, 5 and 6)

These are the years that the pictures begin to only appear around birthdays and special occasions and such. You don't blame mum do ya??? She must have been kept hopping with all 4 of us crazy kiddoes :)

For my 4th birthday I got a dolly named Jessica. She was my favourite doll for MANY years.

Our dog "Heidi" had puppies.... oh the joys!!!

My 5th birthday party

These were the beginning of the crazy fun years that I had playing with my sisters. We mostly played "house" together with our dolls. What FUN! :)

I got a letter from my daddy on my birthday. I remember being SO tickled that my daddy would take the time to write me those sweet words.... I still have that paper...

Here Josh and I were practicing for a play that we were doing. I think it was about being to busy working to be spending time with God.

Mom and a good friend of her's made these dresses for me and a friend. Mikaya now wears my dress....

My 6th birthday party

I got THEE best present from my brother for my birthday.... a PUPPY!!! We named her Shadow and she was our amazing dog for many years.

Josh and I were playing "follow the leader" one day out in the snow. He decided to go up the tree...  then jump down. When I tried to follow, I jumped... but unfortunately didn't hit the ground :( I WAS STUCK!! My big brother was SO kind and considerate.... he promptly left me hanging and ran inside to get mom to take a picture!!! Some big brother!!! (that I love to bits!!! :)

For Christmas of 1997 I got a diary! My first few entree's were as follows.... have fun trying to read them :) (don't you remember always getting those b's and d's mixed up.... oh the trials!!)

December 24 1997

Yesterday we hab lots OV fan.

We took picRters

we opned presins.

KerrI, Megan and me got a big KItchin set, and I got things to make braslits thats all I hav to saeid

December 24 1997

today day we habd lots of fun.

we opended pesints we played with toys, the adults played games. 

I derinck cream soda. thas all I have to say.

Apparently keeping a diary at 6 years old wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, because it was a year before I wrote it in again.... I'll have more next time :)

Meanwhile.... I hope that you all (all my Canadian readers that is....) have an AMAZING Thanksgiving!!!

Memories Monday Part 2 (on Wednesday)

I guess I'll just start up where I left off!

I developed my love for animals at an early age. I don't really remember this cat, but there are lots of pictures in which it is sleeping with me in my bed :) I cannot remember a time that I did not love animals!

We loved doing this with daddy just as he was ready to head out the door :)

This picture was taken at Josh's birthday party.

We always loved to see how high we could get those lego towers!!

In this picture (below) Josh and look like we are best and forever friends! 

But the footage that mom captured that day on our video camera shows "the rest of the story". 

Josh and I were climbing the hill and sliding down having the time of our lives.
We each had our own little slide right beside each other. So that we could slide down at the same time.

Josh always got up that hill faster then me because I kept tripping on my scarf (didn't you always hate those scarves when you were little???) so at one point, he was sitting there waiting for me to come so we could slide down together. When I finally got to where he was he patted beside him and said "Jen sit here!!"

I wasn't about to let my big brother tell ME what to do, I wanted to slide where he was sitting!
So I shoved him and made him go down the slide!
He was NOT happy and threw a little tantrum right down at the bottom of the slide.
I sat on my new aquired throne waited a little bit for him to move, but I guess I was a little to impatient becuase I slid down and landed right on top of him! This of course made him all the more angry!  

Yes, I DID have to say sorry, but I did it in my own little innocent and happy way :)

So there ya have it.... I MAY LOOK cute, but watch out!!! :)

My 3rd birthday, I don't remember a whole lot about the party.... but I DO remember LOVING the cake!!

Snowman FUN!!!

At 3 1/2 I got another baby sister!!! All I remember is visiting mom in the hospital. We went with Grandma and Grandpa Pauls in their BIG van (it seemed HUGE to me!). I remember sitting on the hospital bed as I met my new baby sister for the first time. Oh, and the ballon.... can't forget giving mom the ballon that said "It's a girl!"

For my 4th birthday we made a trip to the zoo with Mom's side of the family. It was the first "zoo visit" that I could remember and I was REALLY excited. To make it all even more exciting, I got to wear a brand new dress that I got for my birthday (nothing makes a little girl happier!!).

Josh (on the polar bear statue), Me, Megan and Kerri with our Aunty Amanda

We topped off the day by going to Chuck E' Cheese. Ahh, what fun!!!

I probably have some of these pictures in the wrong order... but these next few are sibling pictures!

Spring 1995

The beginning of a lifelong friendship

Christmas 1995

This last picture is of me, my Uncle Travis, brother Josh and Aunty Amanda. We were putting on a on a play for some people in our basement. I can't remember a whole lot about it except that I was supposed to be a doll, Trav a robot, Josh a toy cowboy (we were all toys :) and Aunty Amanda was an upset housemaid :) Oh, and I remember singing songs, that is what we are doing in this picture!

 AND I remember practicing it.... LOTS!

And that's it....till Monday!

Memories Monday

Okie... so apparently my pathetic little plea for post idea's was..... well, PATHETIC. So um... let's move on :)

So, today is Monday ya? SOOOO, I've decided that..... it's time for..... a..... MEMORIES MONDAY!!!!

  (I'm tryin' to get ya'll excited for this :)

I've always thought it fun to see what people looked like when they were younger and hearing stories of what it was like growing up. So I decided to take you on a walk through my 2 decades of livin'. That way you'll get to know me a insy tinsy bit better :)

In these first pictures, I don't have a whole lot of recollections yet. So it will just be a whole whack of pictures, and not alot of words :) 

Me with mom at a couple weeks old.

All dressed up for Christmas! (at 5 months)

My 1st birthday party

This was one of our favourite things to do with/to our daddy when we were little! Playtime on the floor!

Walking with mommy.... I think I'm going to try to convince mom to get that haircut again (heehee!)

For my second birthday I got a dolly! She was my FAVOURITE toy for many years!

A couple months after I turned 2.... I got a baby sister (Megan)!!

Josh and I ALWAYS had LOTS of fun together.... I don't think I could have asked for a better big brother!!!!  :)

Christmas 1993

Me with my "baby" Lynda. As I recall, I got the highchair for Christmas (1993)

Ya, so that's it for "part 1" I'll try to have "part 2" ready for next Monday.

Memories Monday, The story of Andrew's birth from an Auntie's perspective

A year ago today, our life was going along very routine. It was a Sunday and we were at our Grandparents with Josh and Rebecca (who was 7 mths pregnant with Andrew) just having fun and being together.

On November 2nd one year ago, our lives took a turn. A very unexpected one.
Joshua called us in the morning and told us that he was taking Rebecca to the hospital because she had been having contractions all night.
I was worried, I knew that this could turn very bad.

Sometime a couple hours later, Josh called us again and told us that they were taking Rebecca, by ambulance to a hospital 2 hours away because she was 4 cm dialated and the hospital that they were at didn't deal with infants born that premature.
Of what I remember, they tried to stop labour but were unable so they started giving the baby steriods.
Dad and Mom, along with Rebecca's parents made their way to Winnipeg (the city that Josh and Rebecca were at) at around 5:30 p.m. because it was looking like the baby was going to be born.

Josh and Rebecca in the hospital

We called the Penner kids to come over and spend the night with us, because it would have been REALLY hard to be alone at that time... and we didn't have alot else to do, other then wait... wait... and wait!

Left to right: Nathan, Jesse, Randy, Reuben, Zachary, Raymond, Me, Caleb, Raechelle, Brooke, Kerri, Josiah, Rita, Mikaya, Ruth and Megan

We spent our time eating....

Taking pictures

Laughing

 Making doughnuts

 Playing games

 Talking about what it would be like to be aunties and waiting, waiting... waiting!

Even under the dire curcumstances (though we were all still worried)... we all couldn't help being excited about the prospect of having an new little Nephew or Neice!
It was hard having the feelings of being excited and being worried all mixed up. Sometimes I felt like it was wrong to be excited cause when, if the baby was born, it's life could be in danger. But at the same time, it was looking like that was what was going to happen anyway, so we didn't have much choice in the matter!

So November 3rd came and went. Still no baby!
All the Penner kids spent another night with us, as the anxious grandparents-to-be were still waiting together in Winnipeg.

Then came November 4th when Mom and Dad gave us the news that the drs. induced Rebecca.
Every email recieved and every time the phone rang, all of us girls would run and excitedly look at the email or answer the phone.
And FINALLY at 5:10 p.m. we got the call that Andrew Joshua was born!!!

And the journey of Auntie-hood had begun!

To be continued....


❀ Jennifer

Memories Monday

I was looking through all our picture folders trying to find pictures to post for "Memories Monday", when I came across these pictures from August of 2008.

I just had to smile when I saw these because they brought back a whirlwind of crazy memories.

On Thursday, July 31, 2008... my big brother asked Rebecca's (who is now my sis-in-law) Dad if he could begin a relationship with his daughter. 

We had been "just friends" with Rebecca and her siblings for a couple years and nobody really thought about something like this happening!
This all would have come to a HUGE shock to me if mom had not told me ALL about it the day before (which also happened to be my birthday).

Josh, Meg, Ker and I had spent the evening over at the Penners house playing sports, riding horses and chatting around the campfire. 

It was getting closer and closer to time to go home (all teens have a curfew right???) and I would have been getting worried about the time had I not know that my brother was trying to summon the courage to spring one of the biggest questions of his lifetime... I knew mom and dad would forgive him this time.

All I had to do was keep my little sisters happy :)

It wasn't as easy as I thought it might be. All us girls were waiting outside... for Josh to come out, and my sisters were getting just a tad worried.
"What is taking him so long???"
Becca started talking about the stars (ya know... constellations and stuff) and it worked to keep them quiet for a while :)


Josh FINALLY came outside and we started home.
He told us all that Becca's dad had said YES!!!! We were so excited :)


And so began the journey of us getting to know (what we knew would be) our soon to be sister-in-law... and not to mention the rest of her family :)
Seventeen days later... on August 17, 2008. Josh asked Rebecca to marry him... and the rest is history.


So without further ado, this is August 5, 2008.... 


All of the Penner and Pauls girls went for a day of shopping in the city.
It was... um hard for Rebecca, because Josh wasn't there...well at least not in person :)

Rebecca was texting him the WHOLE day long (Right Becky???)

We've got pictures to prove it :)

 We had a great time shopping, and eating (gotta love chinese!!)....

Bet you didn't think this one would make it on my blog eh Rae?

You DID give me permission to take the picture though... remember??? :)

Rita got a cute little hat....and we had fun bugging her about it :)

And trying to find the right "hair do" for it all the way home :)

We finally found the right one...

Me and Rae

Umm... Josh, Beck and Kerri :)

Megan and Rita



Becka and Ker again! (this time without Josh :)

We all bought Blue Bomber shirts (our football team) because we were going to be going to a football game that week.
We couldn't resist taking a group picture with them on :)

All in all it was a REALLY fun day, buying chocolate, shopping for matching skirts, looking at bridesmaid dresses (remember Rae??), bugging Becky about her new love.... just great fun:)




❀ Jennifer