Ghost Train

So every year in Stanley Park they have the "Ghost Train." It's a little train, that runs all year long, but is decorated up for Halloween. This years theme was PIRATES!! ARRRRGH! We thought it would be fun to take Emma, and I am sure she will totally remember it!! It was a nice night out, and always fun to visit our favorite Vancouver places-prior to the train ride. (bubble tea and schwarmas-mm mm good)

Here we are on the train


This is inside the "petting zoo"


ARRRRRGH! Here is our little pirate!! SO ADORABLE


Now since it was SO cold out... we had to bundle Emma up nice and warm. Therefore, you were unable to see this ADORABLE outfit she was wearing!


this stinking cute bow, was made by a good friend of my mothers!!

Out with the OLD in with the NEW

While down in SLC we bought a new Lovesac cover, it was LONG overdue. We have been wanting a new one for a VERY long time, and decided...IT WAS TIME! We got home and went to switch out the covers...of course thinking it was going to be easy...WRONG! We unzipped the old one to find out that the lining inside had come unzipped and ALL the foam was EVERYWHERE!! So like anyone would do, we zipped it back up and said, "We will take care of this later, I don't want to deal with that right now."

The time has come my friends...we faced the task of switching them out, and WE LOVE LOVE LOVE the new cover. It is microsuede, and so SUPER soft!! It also looks about 10 times better than the other one. And of course, Emma was the first to try it.


Just CHILLAXIN!






It took 2 days to do it all...Emma started getting a bit scared of the vacuum, so we had to stop. I am telling you the foam was all over the living room, and stuck to us as well. We had to empty the vacuum out about 5 times!! CRAZY! I didn't get pictures of it though, it's a memory I don't wish to reflect upon, ever again!

FINALLY...Emma has an Excersaucer!!

So we (Wika and Myself) decided it was time Emma got a toy of her own. Don't get me wrong, she LOVES her bouncy chair, but she deserves more! So it was time for a trip into the states! WOOHOO! So we packed up the car with everything we needed including passports...and headed down. We went to Target and checked out what they had. They had a baby Einsteins activity center and jumper. We checked it out, then decided it would be best if Emma tried it out. I mean it is her toy, so she needs to be happy with it. It was a winner...she LOVED it. We grabbed it, bought it and packed it into the teeny tiny VW and headed home. (after a couple other stops as well, of course) By the time we got home it was 7:30pm, Emma's feed and bed time! :( Oh no, she won't get to play with it tonight! Well, daddy made sure it was all put together for when she woke up Sunday morning so she could play. Sunday morning comes...and as soon as we heard the peep from her room, we ran to get her-tis the reason she has her CRAZY bed head; but seriously look at that head of hair!?!? We were SO excited for her to play with her new toy. Did she just love it?? Take a look, what do you think!?!?

This is my: "I really want to get that froggy" look

Now, I am going to hold on to this frog because I really like it, however there are other toys here I would like to check out as well.

you lookin at me?

MOM and DAD thanks for this SUPER fun toy!! I really do like it.


She will spend up to 45 min or so in it, that is when I do the dishes or clean up a bit. It really is a wonderful distraction for her, though very large in our little apartment, well worth every penny!

*video to follow shortly...we just have to find the cord to upload it!?!?

Random pictures that I have wanted to post...but haven't

Seriously...who bends like this!?!?

These are from our walk down in Stanley Park...LOVE LOVE LOVE the seawall walk. Definitely is one thing we REALLY miss about Vancouver...if only we were closer!!

Emma being her cute self!!

all bundled up...can't move...

Wika and his mom...such a fun visit!

Emma on the Lovesac...just posing

Grandma Gordon-Smith got Emma a new teether...ya I couldn't resist!

Happy Anniversary

I awoke yesterday morning to my wonderful husband saying..."Aly, Aly, come look. Look at this amazing sunrise." I got up and went to see what he was talking about! It was absolutely breath taking!! I knew from that moment, it was going to be a GREAT day.


Not only is it our 4 year anniversary, but it's the 6th year anniversary from our first date!! It is crazy how fast time flies...but I have enjoyed every minute. I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful husband! He is my EVERYTHING!! I LOVE who I wake up to every morning, I LOVE who I live with every day. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't make me laugh or put a big smile on my face. "I love you" are words I hear daily! He always tells me how beautiful I am, especially when he knows how much I am struggling with the baby weight :P He is a strong priesthood holder, who honors the power that he has! He is the most incredible DAD, he has SO much love for our little Emma. It truly is beautiful to watch him with her!! I am forever grateful for my sweet husband! The past 4 years have been so incredible...and I know it will only get better from here!! I love you babe!!!

DISNEYLAND!!!

It's LONG, but it's our MEMORIES!!

Family in town

I know I still need to put up our pictures from Disneyland...but stuff keeps happening. It is super hard to keep our blog up to date! So the Disneyland pictures are on hold for a short moment!!

I returned home from SLC on Thursday October 9th, Rostya flew into town on Friday the 9th, and Simon and Wika came in on the 10th!! WE LOVE HAVING VISITORS!! Wika was coming back from a work clinic in Manchester, and was flying through Amsterdam. Simon was coming in from Prague and made a stop in Amsterdam as well. So they were able to meet up for lunch there. Wika tried to see if his work could get them on the same flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver...but no go!! Unfortunately with the holiday weekend flights were too expensive. So Wika flew from Manchester to Amsterdam to Seattle to Vancouver-crazy I know!! Simon flew into Vancouver around 4:00pm, Wika was to fly in around 5:00pm; so they were just going to wait there for him. HOWEVER, his flight was delayed from Seattle to Vancouver and he didn't arrive until almost 7pm!! So I decided to head out to the airport as well, so that Grandma and Grandpa could play with Emma!! It ended up being quite the night in the Vancouver Airport!! Grandma and Grandpa Gordon-Smith-you are troopers!! Thank you for your patience...we love you!!





here is Grandpa playing with Emma...just trying to stay entertained!!



Finally home...


On Sunday we decided to go for a nice walk, though chilly, it was very relaxing! I think we got some pretty nice pictures of our area and of the family. Oh, and Emma finally got to meet her Uncle Henry for the very first time!!

All of us...minus Henry (someone has to take the picture)


Emma all bundled up


minus Rostya this time


the gorgeous view from where we live!! It's just so quiet and peaceful...


Time to use the camera timer so we can all be in a photo together!!

Vegas BABY!!

On our way to LA we stopped in Vegas for a night to split up the long drive with the little one! Emma LOVED it. She loved the lights the sounds and the little cards they hand out for free ;) (just kidding) We got in late, around 8 or so, and really wanted to walk the strip a bit. We thought she would fall asleep, but not with those bright lights. She didn't go to sleep til around 11:30, and I thought for sure she would sleep well...WRONG she woke up at 4AM and then again around 6:30. I think she was punishing me, however she slept for almost the whole rest of the drive to LA. So I will only complain a little bit.

Her first Casino experience




Bellagio dancing water show


Blury, but a kinda cool photo


Family photo op, on the Vegas strip

Couch Potato

We are gonna have to be careful with this habit, but for now...I can get stuff done while she watches!! :) (yes, we are watching Ellen-Ryan was the guest)

September 11th

So it's been exactly one month since we went to the healing fields, so today seems more appropriate for this post! In Sandy Utah every year on the 11th of September they place flags, one for every person lost in the terrorist attacks in 2001. This year they decided to put up 1776 flags, for the year when the Declaration of Independence was signed. It really was such a humbling experience to see these flags. I can still vividly remember where I was on 9/11/2001-as I am sure most of you can. My heart still goes out to those who lost loved ones. I can't believe it's been 7 years, time really does fly by.

I love Canada, I love living here; but I am very proud of who I am and where I came from! I love the USA!

4 month old in a full on pony tail!!

Unfotunately a few days after the zoo Emma and I came down with colds!! So NOT fun. It's hard enough to take care of the little one while she is sick, but even harder since I had to join her in the misery!! We ended up taking Emma to the doctor, just in case it was an ear infection...thank heavens it wasn't. So we just took it easy. It's a bummer I couldn't give her anything, and I was a bit hesitant to take anything myself because of nursing...so we just had to let nature take it's course! My sweet sisters and mom would come over and help with Emma so I could get a little nap in or just have a break; it was the best present ever!

However, now to get to the title of this post, after giving Emma a bath one morning I decided to try and put her hair in a pony tail. Just because we are sick doesn't mean we can't look beautiful!! Here is what it looke like:






I had to take it out shortly after...it really only stayed while the hair was wet. Because she has such fine hair, once it dried it would just fall right out. It was Super fun to do though, and gave us something to do while we just sat around at home!!