Special Day for our Family!!!!

Today as you can see from the title was a very special day for our family. Kathy and Jeff's newest daughter Georgia Marie was blessed today at church. She looked so beautiful as you can see in her white dress. This dress was worn by both Jessica and Sarah, so it has very special memories. Jeff gave her a beautiful blessing, and she was pretty good throughout the whole thing, letting out a few noises towards the end. She is such a beautiful little girl and it was so special to see her blessed. It was extra nice as well because I got to sit with Brandon today at church, for those who don't know, I'm still in Halifax Ward at church while Brandon is in Cole Harbour because it starts earlier, so he can make it to some of the meeting before going to work. Church is always wonderful but for some reason it's just so much better when I get to sit with Brandon. Plus it was awesome to have almost my whole family surrounding me (minus Laura- you suck!! PEI come on!!) I unfortunately had to work today, but more on that later, so I didn't get to go to the family BBQ which would have been so yummy, so I made sure to snap a few pic's before I left and then left the rest in the hands of my mother.

Phil and Sonja were back today at church and it was so nice to see them. I really miss sonja when she's away because she's one of the people I talk to almost everyday, so it was nice to look across the aisle at church and see them sitting there. Ethan is getting so big, he has so many teeth now and a bit more hair although it's pretty blond. Today in Sacrament meeting he was playing peek-a-boo which was one of the cutest things ever!!! Brandon and I had Ethan sit with us for a little bit and he was a little charmer as always. He definitely loves his cousins.

Sadly though I had to leave church early today at 11am because I had to work, and trust me I was not impressed at all. My store was not only open today but it is also open tomorrow...no Canada day for me this year I guess...Oh but I forgot retail people don't count as people, we don't get to have a life and celebrate holidays, we just have to work, so people can not spend time with their families on Holidays, they can shop. So needless to say I wasn't wanting people to ask me how I was today because I was going to tell the truth. We had an okay day I guess....time passed fairly slow at first but luckily picked up. Christina and I watched the Canada Day/ Tattoo parade from the store window...it was pretty good I guess. The only good thing that comes out of working Sunday and Monday is that I'm gaining two paid days off for after the wedding which is awesome...I try to focus on that!!!

After work I ran some food down to Brandon who was working a super long shift today, so I grabbed him some food and took it down which he really appreciated!! I secretly just wanted to see him, and bringing him food was the perfect reason to get to see him!!! I cannot wait until we have jobs where we have the weekends off, it'll be soooooooo nice!!

The wedding plans are coming along well, I'm in the process of figuring out decor for the reception and rounding up the remaining RSVP's...there are still a few slackers who have yet to RSVP and they better do it soon. Brandon and I have our marriage license which is exciting, one step closer!!

I should mention since I have not posted since Monday...Wednesday evening Brandon picked me up from work and we headed down to the Five Fisherman Restaurant for dinner with his family as well as his grandparents that were in town for Brittany's Graduation (Congrats Brittany and Laura on Graduating!!) Anyway the restaurant was beautiful, they had someone walk us up to our seat and they were very quick to refill drinks etc. Also the sun was shining in my eyes and they came over and closed them for me...most places are not this caring- it was quite nice. We had a delicious dinner- I had chicken...yummy!!!! There was a salad bar and muscle bar, which Brandon loved- he had 4 plates of them..I on the other hand tried 2. Dessert was just as wonderful...cheesecake...YUMMM!!!! It was a great meal and even greater company...I had the nicest time talking with the family and with Brandon's grandparents. They are just the sweetest people. His grandmother Sandie came over and gave me a hug as soon as we arrived. Meaghan and I spoke wedding plans which was super exciting. It's so awesome- I get my wedding in August and then Meaghan's in October! I LOVE WEDDINGS!!!!! When we went to leave we stopped outside to talk a minute longer and Brandon's grandfather Steve gave me a hug good-bye, it was just such a great dinner, I am definitely marrying into a wonderful family!

I definitely feel very blessed to not only have an amazing family myself, but to be gaining another amazing family!! I am being doubly blessed!! I can't even express how excited to gain more members to my family!!!

Anyway even though my Canada Day weekend is a total bust, I still want to wish everyone a HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! Here are four little cuties modeling their Canadian pride...Check out Facebook for all of Georgia's blessing photos!!!

Prom Craziness...

Well it is official....Laura and Brittany are pretty much done high school...prom is over and now all they have to do is take the big walk across the stage. It seems like yesterday they were both just starting high school and now they are done...WEIRD!! They are both going to DAL next year which is super exciting for them both. As you can see from the picture they were both stunning in their prom attire...I think the two best looking girls there but I might be a bit partial.

Laura and I had a busy day leading up to prom...she didn't have everything quite figured out...so we ran some errands for new flip flops...make-up since she volunteered me to do it...and a bronzer...what worked out well though was when we went to the drug store and asked the girl about it she said for Laura to just come back and that she'd do concealer and bronzer for free...so all I had to worry about was her eyes. Thank Heavens for that because I've never really had to do make-up on anyone other then myself. After the fact I realized i should have called my friend Kerry to do it because she has all this awesome MAC make-up and she always does amazing stuff with it...oh well...I'll remember next time!!

Laura went to prom with her friend Collin...so we took some pictures in the backyard before they headed over to a friends place for more pictures... They looked so cute...collins shirt and tie were complementary colors to Laura's dress so they looked quite smashing together. We borrowed our neighbor Rita's yard to take some pictures in front of her purple bushes, which continued the complementary color scheme. Collins grandmother is a neighbor of ours so we called her down for a picture too which was a lot of fun. Brandon was over so we made sure to get a picture with Laura before the craziness of the Gardens...although we took one there too. You may not have noticed but we also have complimentary colors on...he wanted to go buy a new shirt because we ended up in similar colors...he'll shoot me for pointing it out but I thought we looked good. It was a total fluke...but I don't think it's that bad- we are not identical!! Not too many people noticed so we survived the night...what do you guys think...do we look like goofballs?? Anyway so as Laura and Collin headed out Bran and I headed down to the gardens to meet up with his family. We were the first ones down so we waiting around looking at all the pretty dresses and some of the not so pretty ones. There were quite a few white tuxes and one guy who had a broken arm had a sling made to match his dates blue dress which was bright but kinda cute. We met up with Meaghan next- which was funny because just as we were calling each other I looked up and she was a few feet away. It really worked out perfectly that Brittany and Laura had prom on the same night because I was able to see them both and get pictures of them both. It was a challenge because I could be in two places at once but I kept running back and forth so it worked. I was Laura's tag along photographer...basically she told me what pictures to take, but it was fine because then I got to see how all her friends looked!! I love prom...I love the hair and the dresses...it was great I was totally in my element. Although it had both Chelsey and I wanting to go to prom again...but hey I think a wedding will be a much better dress up occasion then a prom so I'm happy!!! Here are a few more pictures from the Gardens...to see the rest go to my Facebook...most of them are posted there...

This is Laura and I with her friend Kristo...
a few weeks ago he had my neighbor thinking that he was the guy
I was going to marry...he's too stinkin' funny!!

This is my favorite friend of Laura, his name is Ryan.

He is actually my buddy now because we worked together at Roots. He was the first QEH person I spotted that night so I needed a picture of him and his cute girlfriend Liz...they were lookin good!!!

This is a picture of Brittany and a few of her close girlfriends they all looked amazing-

although I have to say I think Brittany has the prettiest dress...

she looked like a princess...too cute!

This is a group shot of Laura and a bunch of her friends...there are too many to name because they kept multiplying in the picture...it was craziness!!!

This is a fun picture it's called the "Westmount Crew"...this is Laura and a bunch friends that she has been going to school with since grade PRIMARY. It took awhile to track everyone down but they finally did and I think they look awesome!!

So after the prom girls took off to their various prom destination...we headed out for dinner. Meaghan, Chelsey, Laureen, Peter, Brandon and I went to Mexi's for dinner. Other then being freezing inside my meal was awesome. I had the lemon marinated chipolte chicken and it was AMAZING....brandon tasted it and wished he's have gotten it. It was really fun just hanging out and chatting with the fam!! My friend Paola works there and I ran into her while I was there which was a lot of fun since I haven't seen her since she got back from Africa and she hasn't seen me since before I was engaged...so it was a blast to run into her. She looked so good!!

Brandon and I grabbed some DQ treats for our walk back to the car as dessert and who did we run into but Nicole, Matt, Kerry and Matt...it was so fun to randomly see them. Brandon definitely needs to come along to a games night soon so he can get to know my girls more!!

Anyway that's about it for now, hope you enjoyed the prom update...It was an beautiful day and Laura and Brittany were even more beautiful!!!!

Someone is loving being an uncle...

So I always try to have pictures from my week to post here on my blog. This weeks pictures come from this past Tuesday when Brandon and I got to spend sometime with our nieces and nephew. As you can see from the picture someone is settling into his new role rather well. This was the second time that Brandon got to hold Georgia, so I think he was pretty excited! He had tin man arms at first but once he got used to holding her he looked like a seasoned pro. The kids are getting used to calling him uncle Brandon, although it is official for a few more weeks! I'm loving it and I think he is too!


Tuesday Brandon and I went out and got out marriage license all sorted out. We are able to go and pick it up anytime this week after Tuesday so I'm quite excited about that. It'll be great to check something else off my list. We also took my ring in to get it sized, which I really didn't want to do because my hand felt naked, but hey the feeling for a few days is better then having the permanent feeling which I would if I lost me ring because it was a bit loose. Luckily the kind woman put a rush on it and I had it back in under a week. While I was out getting my ring back I stopped into MAC and picked up some new eye shadow...they are quite pretty...maybe the names will help you imagine them... Star Violet, White Frost and Amber Lights... Seriously if you ever want to go and treat yourself, go there and get help with new make-up...if they're not busy they'll even show you how to put on your new colors. It's great and you leave feeling so pretty.




















Nothing else super exciting happened this week...I worked as usual... it was a slower week due to the rain but we managed to keep ourselves entertained. Survivor Night was a blast as always... Kerry, Nicole, Natalie, Jane and myself played a round of cranium turbo...if you thought cranium was fun- you would LOVE cranium turbo...it is so much harder and so much more fun! Nic and I went through our IPOD'S and traded good music- I have a new favorite Song... I think it'll be added to the wedding play list- it's called Bubbly and it's an adorable song!! My friend Sarah at work is the best she always makes me CD's with so many awesome song's and this last one was no exception- Thanks Sarah!

This week will be another busy one...my day off is tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a beautiful day since it is Laura and Brittany's prom night. It works out perfectly because both Cole Harbour High and QEH will be at the Gardens around the same time, so Brandon and I are going to see our little sisters all dolled up. I will post a bunch of pictures. I LOVE prom's I was telling Ashley and Whitney all about my love of proms today at church. I just love seeing the hair and the style of dress for the year. I'm sure Laura and Brit are both going to look AMAZING! So look forward to their pictures...as long as it doesn't rain!

I hope you enjoy my little update post and pictures...sonja, if you are reading this while you are away I miss ya already! Hope you, phil and ethan are having an awesome time. Say Hi to your dad for me!!!

Oh and I almost forget, I decided today to change my blog layout again for fun...I figure I should go all girlie for a while...plus pink is much more me!! What do you think??

Wow...what a crazy few weeks it has been...who knew gaining an extra 10 hours of work in a week would change life so much. I definitely wasn't expecting to be so busy, but I have been. I'm almost done my second full week of being assistant manager and so far so good. I've had crazy days, where I feel like I just haven't stopped moving. I'm feeling comfortable in my role, although at times frustrated because my sales goals have gone up quite a bit. I've been super tired at the end of the day, which makes posting the last thing on my list...but I'm back with another marathon post for you... so here we go!


First of all last week my wedding dress arrived, much to my relief and Karlees. I have to give her a big THANK YOU for helping us get my dress here!!! It's a beautiful dress and it fits perfectly! Now I just have to keep it that way. It is even prettier then I had thought. The train is pretty big so I have to look into solving that issue, but I think I know what to do. So now my dress is just hanging in my room calling for me to try it on again like everyday, but I can't get too carried away because I don't want anything to happen to it. Everyones been asking to see pictures of the dress, but I don't really have any right now, I kinda want to keep it somewhat of a surprise...so for now this is as much of the dress as anyone will see on-line...but don't worry I will post pictures from the big day!!




The same day that my dress arrived was the same day that Julia called to see if I wanted to go over and visit the baby with her...and of course the answer was YES! We had a fun night visiting with the kids and kathy. Julia was so great with the kids...especially jessica, not only did she get to brush jessica's tangled mess of hair but she also convinced her to let me put her to bed. Julia has baby fever for sure...I think she'd be an awesome mom!!! It was really great to see the kids and hold Georgia. I try to hold her as much as I can now, because I know that they do grow so quickly! Even if it means changing her bum twice I'll do it because it means some extra georgia time. While we were there Jessica was working on a project for school about herself and she had this great poster of pictures from our big disney vacation it was so fun helping her write captions underneath each picture. When I talked to her the next day she said that her presentation went really well. I was a very proud auntie!!

For those who don't know my mom is retiring this year from teaching and she is pretty excited! They've been doing a lot of celebrating! So last week we all got to go to a special party being held in my mom and her job-sharing partner Kathi's honor. It was held as a little restaurant downtown called Tribeca, which didn't look like much from the outside, but from in side it was quite cool. We got to visit with the people my mom works with as well as some of my old teachers. I was known as the getting married daughter. Although a few people saw me holding Georgia and said I looked great for just having a baby...I quickly corrected them on that one. I'm not too sure how to take that comment!!hahha!!! Anyway it was great to go and support mom and to see Kathi's two son's Drew(24) and Neil(20?). I don't think I'd seen them in over a year so we all hungout in the corner and acted like the good children that we are. We had some fun laughs over trying to figure out whose mother would cry first and tasting the "delicious" cake they had! Being the loving auntie that I am, when Laura came over and said Georgia needed to be changed I stepped right in. I had to take her into the restaurant bathroom to change her and I wasn't thrilled. The counter space in the bathroom didn't exist, so I had to lay one of her blankets on the dirty nasty washroom floor and change my week old niece. It was not cool at all. I think I changed her in record time just to get her off the floor. Yes I know they probably keep the bathroom clean and yes she was on a blanket not touching anything dirty but it was just the principal of having to change her on the floor. What a story to tell her when she gets older! After the party kathy and I went out to Bayers Lake to do some shopping and get some burger king...for fast food they were not so fast!!! But oh well it filled the craving! The picture of Georgia was taken after the bathroom trauma, she doesn't looked too traumatized from the whole ordeal!!

-

The next day was my Pier 21 adventure with mom's third grade class. I drove and chaperoned a great group of girls...Charlotte, Andrea, Claire and Peyton. I couldn't have asked for a better group. We had a blast together. Pier 21 was really cool, there was so much to see and explore and learn about! It's crazy what people went through to make it into Canada. One woman gave birth to twins in Pier 21! There were amazing displays to look at, eventually I'm going to post the pic's on facebook so look forward to those! They have a cool theatre that is inside a boat, and it is so well done. I recommend going because it was so cool. They also have a train that you can go on and watch different testimonials from people who came through Pier 21, when you are on the train it feels like you are actually driving across the country. I think the kids learned a lot I know I sure did. Here are just a few pictures from my Pier 21 adventure!!! I forgot to mention as well, while I was looking through Pier 21, I look up and who do I see but Gil and Ann Smith. So I snuck away and said a quick hello. It was so random but fun to see someone else that I knew in Pier 21!

This is the boat that you go onto to view the film

This is a shot of my group in a train car- from L-R Claire, Andrea, Peyton and Charlotte

Throughout the exhibit they had these cool little people and when you look really closely you can see that they are entirely made out of paper. It's quite amazing so I took many pictures!! I think they are soo cute!

Each of the kids got their own passport and they each had to go through customs like the immigrants would have back in the day, they had to answer similar questions that would have been posed back then. This is Charlotte and Andrea waiting for their turn with their passports to see if they'll make it into Canada.

Those are the main things that have happened the past little while. Other then that I've just been working and planning the wedding and trying to see Brandon.

We actually had a great date night on Monday. Brandon picked me up from work which was awesome since it was pouring rain and I couldn't find my raincoat anywhere this morning. We swung by my house so I could change and then we headed down to the mall to find Brandon a wedding band, and we actually found a really awesome one. So we placed the order and I got my ring cleaned, so nice an sparkly! We went out and got a bite to eat after that, although I wouldn't recommend Applebee's, it was not good at all- we don't know what we were thinking but we won't be going back there anytime! After eating we headed out and saw Oceans 13 which we both really enjoyed. I love when we go to movies that we both like, it just makes the night that much better! I actually want to get all three Oceans movies because they are that good!! It was just so great to see Brandon because it's really been a challenge to get sometime together between our work schedules, I cannot wait until we are married so we will actually see each other more frequently!! Oh well we are surviving!!

-

Wedding plans are great, all the invites are pretty much out aside from a few that I am waiting on mailing addresses for...now it's up to all those who got them to RSVP...even if you can't make it, go to the web-site and RSVP and SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!!!!! Here is the address in case you don't have the invite close by... www.mywedding.com/BrandonandKaren. We have our rings and we are going to get a marriage license next Tuesday as well I'm getting my ring sized- I don't want to be without it but I need to get both my wedding band and engagement ring sized before the big day so we are going to be doing that as well. I'm actually going to end this for now since there is some wedding things I should be doing right now. One more favour though...if anyone has any cool table center pieces they can share with me-pass it on I need all the suggestions I can get!!!

-

I wanted to wish Melissa and Nate a VERY HAPPY WEDDING DAY since today is their big day- I so wish I could have been there because i'm sure melissa will be a beautiful bride and i cannot wait to see pictures. I hope you guys have a great day and all goes well! Congratulations!!!!!!!

Fun Times with Julia...

So I'm drained again from another busy day at work...but I just had to write a big thanks to Julia for a fun night. We went over and hung out with Kathy and introduced Julia to Georgia. There were pictures taken so I will hopefully get them posted tomorrow and I will write more about it!!

Also a little FYI my wedding dress arrived today and it's sooooo pretty and it FITS!!!! more about that hopefully tomorrow!!!

Anyway thanks again Julia for the fun...next time we get FOOD!! You are such a great friend I loved our chats tonight!!!

I want to mention a special thanks to sonja too, who has started planning a bridal shower for me...looks like it's going to be July 14th, 2007 at 7pm...so mark it down, I'm sure there will be invites going out eventually!! I'm so looking forward to it sonj...you are going to do an awesome job!!! Love ya!

A quick little post because I'm TIRED!!

Well I'm starting to feel like Julia...posts are being written and barely anyone is commenting...I feel like I'm writing for no reason sometimes. I know my posts are long and maybe boring but come on give a girl some feedback!

Oh well...you are all lucky I just love posting on this thing!!!

I'm pretty tired tonight...I had my first day as assistant manager and all went well. We had a big consolidation to do and I think I worked on it from 10:30am until almost 6pm and it's not quite finished yet...but hey I work every day this week so I'm sure we'll finish it. I'm looking forward this week to two things...the first is mom's retirement celebration at Tribeca...should be a fun time and also the field trip I am going on with my mom's class on Friday to Pier 21...I've never been and am quite excited to check it out, I've heard it's cool. I'm going to try to get pictures at both so look forward to future posts!

I'm really getting excited to be married and to live with Brandon. It'll be nice when we can fall asleep and not have to worry about waking back up to go to our own homes. Bran picked me up tonight from work and gave me a sweet card congratulating me on my new promotion. It was such a great surprise. We had Taco's and then went to DQ for some ice cream, which was really nice!

Sunday night I headed over to the Nelson's with mike and keah to visit our new niece. It was so nice to cuddle with her and to see the other three kids who all seem so big now. Jessica was going back to school today, and will get to share her exciting news!! I've learned that Georgia HATES!!!! getting her bum changed...I had my first diaper changing turn and she was fine when I laid her down but as I kept going she got madder and madder...and cried and cried...she's lucky she is so dang cute when she cries!!! It was funny she was all relaxed and laid out at first and then she started crying and he little legs crunched all up which made changing her so fun. My little assistant Sarah was a great help and we got the little munchkin all cleaned up. I think that I will master this art of changing a smaller baby pretty quickly- I've just been out of practice with the diaper changing...Georgia is a lot smaller then Jake when it comes to diaper changing! Here are a few pictures from Sunday night with Georgia...hope you enjoy!! Keep posting this week I love reading and I will try my best to comment!!!

Georgia is here!!!

Well everyone, she has arrived and has been given a name... Georgia!! Which I think is super cute, I can totally see her as a Georgia! No middle name yet, Georgia is a harder name to find something to go along with it, but I'm sure Kathy and Jeff will figure something out!! Sarah is still having a hard time remembering her name, Jessica is doing pretty good, although at the hospital she called her Jayja...or something close to that. I'm sure as soon as their new sister is home that won't happen anymore!

I had the honor of taking the kids to meet their new sister yesterday. I made sure they were all clean before we headed out around 8:30am. They were all pretty excited to go and meet their new sister. When we got into the room Georgia was in her little cradle, so they all were up on their toes trying to get a good look. I took a picture of her, and the flash startled her a bit, although she didn't wake up, but when Jeff came out Jessica told on me the little stinker! She is already filling her role of big sister well! She also told Jeff not to talk close to the baby...i think she's a little over protective, but it's cute!! The kids were excited to see their parents again and to hold Georgia. Jessica was first and did a great job supporting her head. Sarah is a pro and was already rocking her as soon as she started to hold her. Jake still not too sure of who this new baby is and that she's coming home with the family, held his little sister, but her weight became a bit much for him and her head started to droop. I was itching to get my hands on little Georgia, it's been a long wait for her, so I was excited to get my turn. She was so tiny and cute, I didn't want to give her back! But I had to because Sarah wanted another turn...kathy will have a great helper there!! Here are pictures of us holding the newest member of our family...

Georgia was a star every time we were there today, she didn't fuss or cry at all. While we were there in the morning she had some blood taken from her heel, Jessica prepared herself for crying but Georgia didn't make a peep!! She has a very cute round head just like Sarah did. She doesn't have much hair but from what we can see she has dark hair. Her little hands and feet are really dried out from being overdue, but Kathy and Jeff were given some Vaseline which should help that. We think that she will play the piano too because she has the longest fingers ever!!!

After we visited Georgia in the morning, I took the kids out to run some errands. We went the the dollar store where they were each allowed to pick out a treat, since they were so good visiting their sister and as a congratulations on having a new sister. We then went to Old Navy and they each got to pick one thing for their sister. Sarah chose a little undershirt that is pink with a zebra on in. Jake chose an undershirt that is thin pink and black stripes with a bow on it and Jessica chose a cute purple undershirt with a giraffe on it. I picked out a purple sun suit for her which will be adorable. So after we had gifts we needed balloons so we picked up some balloons for Georgia to take back with us this afternoon. A rest stop was needed so we headed back to the house to make cards for Georgia and have some lunch. Auntie Sonja and Ethan stooped by and we had quite the show...check out Sonja's blog for what happened!! What was super exciting was that Ethan has started to crawl which was super exciting. Someday when I figure out how to put videos on here I'll have to post it!!

Here are a few of the Georgia pictures that I took today...I love all 106 pictures I took today but these are a few of my favorites of just Georgia...

We headed back down in the afternoon and this time we took uncle Brandon with us to meet his newest niece. Jacob was born when we first started dating so he didn't get to come to the hospital then, so Georgia is the first niece that he's been down to see. Also she is the first one since we've been engaged, so it makes it even more real that this is his new niece! Kathy and Jeff loved our little gifts, Brandon ever went and picked up a gift for Georgia, two beautiful undershirts from GAP, one is a tank style and says Vacation on it, and they other is a beautiful floral print...good choices hunny!! Sarah and Jessica got to hold their sister again as well as auntie Laura since we met her there. Brandon and I also got our turns in. It was hard to leave her because I knew I wouldn't get to go down and see her tomorrow since I have to work! Hopefully Kathy will come visit lots and I plan on making many trips to see my newest niece!!

I hope you have all enjoyed the Georgia update...I'm sure Kathy will get one up as soon as she's settled into life with four kids. We are all so happy for the newest Nelson and feel so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl in our lives. We are hoping that Georgia will be released sometime today...she is a little jaundice today and they are running a few tests, but hopefully she'll be coming home this evening!!! For all the pictures check out my facebook...here are a few more for your enjoyment!! Have a GREAT day!!!!