thankful and stuff.

Happy October! The month is already half over and it feels as though it just began.  Time is going by so fast, as it always does in the lead up to cold, wintery weather.  

This autumn we were fortunate enough to spend some time with my Grandma who came all the way from Ontario to help my mom out while she recovered from surgery.  We saw her back in June, but at that time it was me who was recovering from surgery and adjusting to life with a new baby, so there wasn't as much visiting as I'd have liked.  This time, we had plenty of time together!  Since the mountains were a bit of a far trek, we went to Elk Island National Park for a day trip closer to home.  We'd arrived at the height of autumn's beauty and the trails were spectacular.  It was a gorgeous day filled with exploring, and we even saw some bison!  

Last weekend we headed down to Red Deer to celebrate my second favourite holiday... Thanksgiving!  Having 2 families to celebrate with is both amazing and exhausting.   We get to see both mine and Ryan's family members, we get two delicious meals, and I get to pick out adorable holiday themed outfits for my girls to wear TWICE.  We even got to spend the day with my Grandma and my brother who was visiting from B.C. On the flip side, cramming so much visiting into a weekend when you have 2 small children is pretty tiring, and eating a huge meal 2 days in a row makes for some snug fitting pants! 

Regardless of the chaos, we had a great weekend and I'm so thankful for our wonderful families, my beautiful children, my awesome husband, and so, so much more.  I could go on for days, but just trust me when I say that my heart is overflowing with gratitude.  

Just like that, Thanksgiving is over for another year.  I know that winter and (dare I say it) snow looms on our horizon, so we've been trying to make the most of our days outside.  We've been lucky to have had mild weather so far this year.  Aaralee is noticeably happier on days that we leave the house, so I try to make it a priority despite how much work it is with both kids.  I can only imagine how stressful it will be once winter arrives.  I've been asking for 4 years now, and still no sign of Ryan giving in to my requests to become snowbirds.  I'll keep trying.  Persistence is key! Happy fall, y'all! (Nope, still way too Canadian to get away with saying that...)