Our trip to Alberta and beyond...

Off to Alberta for 10 days with my family...it had been since October since they saw Katelyn (and us!) last, so it was time to get in some grand-daughter time with Kate. That meant saying bye to James for a bit though, so that we can come later on in the winter hopefully, together. :)
A last family picture before saying the dreaded goodbye to James. Airports are a place of tears and joy...

Daddy and Katelyn - and her little fox stuffed into her coat. :) Flying way up high! Katelyn did really well on the plane, and the two ladies I was in between were very helpful and understanding with a busy toddler.

In Calgary we stopped in at Mrs. C's place for a little visit, and to see Laura and meet her darling little man Silas.

Katelyn giving one of her first hugs...so cute. :) Quite a tender moment. :) So cute to see her giving affection - especially to other children.

Out of the car seat- hooray!

Walking to the "Jost's" room at the nursing home. :)

Four generations. It was so good to see Grandma and Grandpa again. You never know how much longer we'll have then around...

Grandpa and us.

Auntie Anne-Marie and Katelyn with rhurbarb leaves adorning them! I love this picture.

Sisters

The cousins meeting again! It was sooo cute. :) Katelyn and Karina hugged and Daniel watched as the cutest little boy...

In Colorado...after a 17 hour van ride in a day. It was a long day but Katelyn did it pretty much better than me. :) Here we are just about to head off to the wedding.

The wedding was so lovely, and so neat to see both families so involved! Mrs.Langemann walked Christy down the aisle which was a touching moment as we all thought of Mr. Langemann and his impact on other's lives.

Instead of a unity candle, Matthew and Christy did a unity song together with all of their siblings - a beautiful orchestra!

The happy couple - Mr.and Mrs. Matthew Johnson. :) Such a darling pair.

Wearing Megan's headband at the reception.

And I even got to have a picture with the beaming bride! Katelyn fell asleep in the ergo which worked out well.

Us four siblings together.

The three remaining Langemann ladies. :) Melody, Angela and Mrs.Langemann. That evening a whole bunch of people went over to their home to visit together. So sweet of them to open up their home despite a long and tiring day.

Amy looked after a few of the children that evening - so sweet of her. She's got a gift with little ones that is certain. She pushed them on the swing, and Katelyn loved it!

I was so blessed to have some time with Angie - despite the busyness of the day she spent some moments with me, and I was so glad to chat with my dear and oldest friend. :)

We stayed at the Morgans that night and had such a lovely time with them! We saw some of their costumes they've made for Live History Days, talked, and had lots of fun. I was really blessed to have a nice long visit with Rachel too while the others played 'bang'. :) Here we are saying goodbye to the Morgans - it was white skirt day I guess. :)

Playing with Auntie Charissa at the last hotel before home.

Only the rocker is for sale...

Outside Cracker Barrel.

Uncle Andrew and us. Since Andrew was so busy seeding for his boss while we were there, we went for an hour long tractor ride with him, which was special. Katelyn got to go in her first tractor ride. :)

By her first tractor experience.

I had to get a picture of Katelyn on the tricycle that a bunch of us kids used when we were young...it's an antique. :)

Darling smiles!

On one of the days, Anne-Marie and Charissa took us two all around the area, so I could see a bunch of my friends. We first stopped at Kendra's...friends who've been through so much and keep radiating contentment and patience.

Then off to Rebecca's for lunch with her and Sharla and the children!

A bunch of darling precious ones!

And at last I got to see the Unrau's home! Something I had waited months for. :)

Stopping in at Naomi's was special, and seeing the boys again...I sure am blessed with many dear friends.

Naomi blessed Katelyn with her very own Tupperware shape ball - a toy I had hoped to find this summer...and now Kate has her own limited edition ball. :) Such a generous gift that will see many Heikoop children through learning eye/hand coordination and shapes and numbers. :)

So glad to see Rochelle again. We had a great visit in those few minutes together.

And we got to the Collin farm just as Lydia returned home from teaching MYC in town...another dear friend with so many memories made together.

We ended the visiting day with stopping in at Jon and Sharla's. :) Was glad to see my cousin again.

That evening Cam, Lisa and the girls came over for supper so we could spend a bit of time together. It was a nice evening, with just family talk, and lots of little girls giggling and learning to share a horsey ride... :)

Little Daniel loved wearing Megan's headband during the evening. It was so adorable.

A bunch of cousins.

Katelyn opened a few of her birthday presents from the 'Fehr's' a bit early, and one of her gifts was this lovely handmade outfit from Grandma. It will be a great play outfit and used a lot. It's special too, cause some of the material (or all) is from my Aunt Julie(the missionary from Gabon) and I used to have a dress that I made out of the purple violets too...

This trip was one of Katelyn's first up close experiances with a dog, and she loved Jade. I think she is even trying to say "dog".

Helping Aunt Annie with the 'dishes'. :) Katelyn is starting to enjoy climbing...

We stopped in at Grandpa and Grandma's room to say goodbye before heading back up to Calgary and Katelyn got to be held and loved by her grandparents again.

Another goodbye at Cam's house. With my big brother before he headed out on run.

Goodbye to Uncle Tim too...cute picture. :)

Having a last moment with Grandpa, and happy to be out of the car seat and into the driver's seat.At the airport in Calgary, Katelyn wandered around and amused the other passengers...

I had a stopover in Winnipeg, and Marlene met me and took me on a picnic for a couple hours. They were so sweet to come all that way to get in a tad bit of time with us. I love this one of Benjamin and Katelyn sitting on a rock during the picnic. :)

Marlene with Jordan and us two. I finally got to meet my big nephew!

And the two cousins.... :) So adorable! Then we raced to the airport where I just made my flight... (I think I was the reason for the 15 min. delay...thank the Lord that it was caring Westjet!) and back to my James! So wonderful to be home again and thankful for the time away. I have a few other adorable pictures that I wanted to post in this post, but I'll have to do a random post next time of the ones I missed... :)