Another June 16 Blessing!!

June 16 will always be a special day in our hearts! This year its specialness increased with the birth of our dear, handsome little nephew, Hendrix Lee Wilson! We were able to visit them in hospital today and he was (and is) such a precious little man. He stole our hearts in an instant! Janelle, my sister-in-law, looks so amazing and is such a relaxed and calm mother, if it weren't for being in hospital, one would never know that she just went thru labour and delivery :) They are a beautiful family and I am just so blessed that we're part of it!
Janelle's sister Christel Nadeau is an aspiring photographer, and is amazing at it! I am using her pictures here because, frankly, hers are WAY better than mine!! (although I am throwing one I took with my girls in there)
This one Christel photoshopped his name on her belly. It looks AWESOME!

Hendrix Lee


The Family (just missing the eldest Paxton)

And then Chloe and Natasha meeting their new cousin!

Shiloh Is 1!!

It's been a long time coming, a whole year in fact and it happened in the blink of eye. Shiloh is now 1 year old. As I look back it seems surreal that it was a whole year ago that she entered the world! The many changes and development that happens in a year is so amazing, it just flies by and each day brings new changes and joys and is not without its challenges as well. Shiloh has brought so much sunshine to our lives. Her big sisters adore her, help her, mother her, teach her and play with her. They love being big sisters to a little one. I have seen a lot of growth in them as they 'take care' of their baby sister. :)
I have to admit I have mixed feelings about her turning one. It feels like she should still be my baby, and in many ways she is, but she is her own little person now, she has her own opinions and voices them, loves getting her hands dirty (but doesn't like touching grass), she loves being wherever her sisters are, is a very good eater, has a favorite stuffed unicorn that she needs to go to sleep, she scooches around on her bum (no crawling), stands up on almost everything, climbs on anything she can go up on. . . . Life is so full and is so fun with our three girls. We can't imagine life without any of them!! Here is a look at Shiloh's 1st year
The day Shiloh entered our world

6 weeks old and already changed so much!

Here she is almost 3 months old with her sisters at the Brandon Farm!

A super-cute pumpkin at Halloween

Meeting her Great-Great Grandmother

Our little snow baby at 8 months

Swinging for the first time and loving it!

And now 1 year old!! Our precious little girla!

My Little Girl is Growing Up

For a few months, Chloe has been talking about doing the Red Rock Cyclathon. To be honest, I felt a little skepticism, she's still so young. . . . but she really wanted to do it!! So we decided to let our little bird jump out of the nest and try to fly. And she flew. We told her what the cyclathon was all about and she knew she was raising money to help kids come to camp and was stoked about that! Trev and Chloe planned to do the half cyclathon.
Goober didn't want to be left out and wanted to go, so Trev decided to pull her in our chariot. She was loaded down with a blanket, pillow, tag books, toys and a water bottle all cozied up in the chariot. Here they are leaving the lunch stop (their starting point)

Goober all decked out in the chariot :)

The first stop was the town of Elma, which was a little over 15kms past the starting point. Chloe still going strong!!

My heart nearly burst with joy at her success! She made it the whole way, and nothing beats the ginormous smile on her face at what she accomplished! Not only did she ride 52kms, but because of how much she raised, (a HUGE THANK YOU to all who sponsored her!) she is able to put money towards her cousin coming to camp for a week!! And get a gift cert as well. It was a beautiful day, my little girl is growing up!



As parents I believe our job is to plant our kids roots, but allow them to use the wings God gave them. My heart burst with joy at watching her fly and disbelief that this girl has come so far since the first day we met. But as the Robert Munsch book "Love you Forever" says;
'I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be'. . . . . and so she will be

Sunshine and Lemonade Party!!

Just this last sunday we had a birthday party for Shiloh and, another adorable camp kid, Kaylia! Kendra and I had so much fun planning, and making, and baking and putting it all together! Ben came up with some crazy games for the kids!! Our theme for the girls was Sunshine and Lemonade, pinks and yellows, and it turned out FANTASTIC!!
These were just some of the decorations. The lemonade stand has been such a big hit with the kids! They have played Lemonade Stand so much, using pretend money to buy their goods :)



Here are the camp kids playing at the lemonade stand while waiting for the party to start.

Let the games begin!!






And then there's the food table. It was so much fun!



Then of course it's cake time!! Here we are with the birthday girls! And it was officially Kaylia's birthday!!

This and That

We knew spring had sprung when Trev went and got out the girls bikes for them to ride! They have spent countless amounts of time riding them up and down and in and out of puddles, getting completely soaked thru and having a blast doing it!

So, I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day and Goober kept trying to interrupt and show me something she had colored. And they know that if I am on the phone, to wait, unless it's really important. I decided that it must be important when I heard her say "I need to go wash it off"! I instantly realized that she had not colored on paper when she said that. This is what she had done. . . . . .lol

A lot of us full time staff went to Kenora, mainly to pick up canoes for camp, but also to enjoy dinner at Casey's together. After dinner we went to pick up the canoes and load them on top of our vehicles. That was fun and different. We have discovered that if any hwy needs work, the 44 up to West Hawk could sure use some help!!

Yesturday I dropped Chloe off at our friends in Rennie while Goober, Shiloh and I joined Vanessa and her two girls out for Busy Bee's, a moms group in Whitemouth, for the morning!! Natasha is usually fairly reserved and uncertain in new places, but by the time we left she was asking to come back!! It was loads of fun!!

Stepping out and being real

A lot of friends whose blogs I follow share deep personal stuff along with the everyday, and I love to read all of it! The personal challenges and growth others share has been a blessing to me. I learn how they overcome and gain helpful insights from it and it brings the relationship to a deeper level even though we may not see each other much, there's still that personal deeper connection of being real and not just talking about the weather. Relationships are so amazing when there's nothing to hide and when you take risks, debate opinions and are ok with having different views on stuff.
And so, I feel as though I want to open up myself and let people see the real me, without holding back and trying to pretend I have it all together. I have this fear that if someone were to look beyond the surface of me they will be repulsed by the ugliness that is hiding underneath. Recently a friend challenged me (on her blog, actually) to stop pretending I have it all together and be real about every aspect of my daily life. My ultimate hope in doing this is not to have the spotlight on me, but instead that you will see I am just as human as the next person and that God is what keeps me from falling to pieces!! So, I am going to take a leap of faith and share something that is a big part of my life.
About a two and a half years ago I was diagnosed with depression. I fought it for a many years before doing anything about it. I believed I could control it and if I just worked harder at changing myself, I wouldn't struggle with it. Finally it got to the point where my thoughts became very dark and that scared me. So I went to my Dr and he started me on some medication and the change was dramatic. In some ways I felt relief that this was something I needed 'help' conquering and that I wasn't just failing at getting it right. I really felt like a cloud left my head and instead of every little thing irritating me, I felt so free of anger and despair of being out of control. But after a couple of months on the medication, I still felt like I was still trapped and that I had only gained a little more space in my cage. So Trev and I, together, went to counseling. I was uncertain about it because I had tried it before and had been told that they didn't know what was wrong with me and couldn't help me. But with this couple and the Holy Spirit's leading, I began to break thru so many things that were suffocating me and I found more freedom than I'd ever known before. My eyes were opened to a lot of strongholds the devil had on my life. I'd love to say that I don't struggle with depression anymore, but then I'd be lying or in serious denial and given my family's history with mental illness (depression, manic depression, bi-polar) chances are this could be a lifetime struggle that I can choose to let control me and bring me and everyone around me down, or I can accept it and live, as best I can, the life God has planned for me. There are days I struggle just to want to get out of bed and do what needs doing for that day. Some days that I do get out of bed, I probably shouldn't have. Some days are harder, much harder, than others and some days are amazing and great. It's a constant struggle. God has been so good to me, He's the one I cry out to in my low moments, He cheers me on and encourages me in the good moments and He's the one who has helped pull me out of dark places just by shining His light, His Truth on the lies in my life. He comforts me, He loves me no matter how nasty I get and He always hopes and expects better for me. He has surrounded me with amazing friends and family and the most amazing husband, Trevor, who doesn't deserve the junk I have, but loves me regardless and supports and encourages me and prays for me constantly. God has blessed us with the most amazing girls, who are teaching me everyday about God's unconditional love and so much about how and why He loves each one of us. God has taught me so much thru them, and all the people who are in my life, I am so blessed by each one! So now that this ugly blemish is exposed I feel a freedom to be myself and be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend.

Minneapolis and More!

The past two weeks have been crazy busy with major work projects at camp and then straight on to a mini vacation in Minneapolis. There were so many people who came out to help with the new flooring in two of the full time staff houses. Our girls loved having more kids to play with them! A bunch of the girls who had come, and I made these super cute owls!


Then Vince and Kendra came for a day and it was just so nice to have a relaxing visit. And see baby Jackson again! Chloe is our little Mother and couldn't resist holding the little man for a bit :)

Then we got ready to go to Minneapolis. I was really nervous as how the drive would be handled by our three girls and amazingly we pulled through with no major meltdowns and activities left over that we didn't even try!! So I guess we were prepared well! I did do a lot of research and talking to other parents who have taken their kids on longer road trips. Their ideas are golden and we had so much fun! The thing I am most thankful for are audio books!! We had a bunch of great ones, but our girls only listened to the 'Little Women' book (at least twice!). I totally got into too. I think I was the only one who cried when Beth died, lol.
Here's a craft the girls had a blast with! I found the glasses at target along with the foam stickers and let them go wild decorating them!


We spent a night and a day on our own in Minneapolis before Ben and Kendra, Anika and Kaylia joined us. The girls had so much fun in the giant jetted tub that we filled with bubbles!
With the Duecks we spent a full day shopping (at IKEA! and the Mall of America) The girls found a lot of things to amuse themselves with, many seats to sit on and beds to lay down on. And this zebra picture I fell in love with and am contemplating having it in our living room.



We also spent one day at the amusement park at the Mall and also the Aquarium, both of which the kids LOVED!! Chloe went on almost everything and had a blast! Goober was a bit bummed out that she couldn't ride everything, but she LOVED the rides that she did go on!! Shiloh did really well too!