Dear Family and Friends,
2010 has been a good year for us. 2009 ended with us getting married on November 7th. We went on our Honeymoon to San Diego. While there, we went to the zoo, the marina, the beach where we tried body boarding and surfing (which is a lot harder than it looks). We went to the temple, to a farmer’s market, little Italy, Disneyland, and to Tijuana. It was very enjoyable.
We decided to have a baby and in early January found out that we were going to have one in September. Later in January, Mel’s job with Dr. King ended, she temped for a week in Calgary then started her job at Redcliff Family Dental Centre working in general dentistry instead of orthodontics, which she had previously been doing.
In March, we had a mini wedding reception for Melanie’s Calgary friends. It was a very nice evening. We splurged when we were in Calgary and got a room with a king size bed and have been wanting one ever since. That month, we also decided that it would be a good idea to buy a house and started looking for our new home. We gave our baby the code name Snuffaluffagus, Snuffie for short. Gary thought the baby was going to be a girl and Melanie thought the baby was a boy. Gary was right. Snuffie was going to be a girl.
In April, we decided to go to the Regina Temple, as neither one of us had really been to Saskabush before. We enjoyed going to the Temple, walking around part of Regina near the legislative assembly building and taking some pictures, and eating some yummy ice cream. On the way home, we stopped in Moose Jaw to take pictures with the moose. We also toured around the city a little bit. We were going to go into Al Capone’s tunnels but it was sold out and a little expensive especially since we didn’t really know what was down there. We saw the Moose Jaw’s wedding cake houses and had a nice visit with the town drunk. In March and April, we looked at a few houses and finally found our house and our offer was accepted. It was in our price range, fairly new (2004), the landscaping was complete and the basement was finished. Two bedrooms up and two down and a nice size yard seemed like the perfect size for us and our growing family.
In May, we moved into the new house and had lots of help, which was very nice. We really needed it.
In June, Gary played in the Ultimate Frisbee league. We also started prenatal classes to prepare for the arrival of Snuffie. Melanie’s sister, Janice, loaned us a pair of baby name books with 49900 made up names and 100 real names to help us name the baby. We made a short list of about 30. The next day we settle on a pair of names and didn’t revisit the subject. Over the summer we really grew to love the names we chose.
In July, we went to the Canada Celebration in Kin Coulee to see the sights and
enjoy the festive community atmosphere. That evening we attended the
fireworks for the second year in a row. Mel went to the VanOrman family
reunion in July and had a nice visit with her family.
In August, we went to the Melanie’s
family reunion in Writing on Stone.
It took us a little longer to get there
as we decided to enjoy the scenic route
of getting to Writing on Stone and visit with each other a bit more (we missed our turnoff). Gary thinks that someone in Foremost should put up an arrow shaped sign with the acronym W.O.S. on it and point it in the direction of writing on stone. We had such a good time visiting, playing in the hoodoos, and floating in the river. Melanie was able to float down the river with her big belly but needed help getting off the air mattress at the end. When the weekend ended, we finished the party at Mel’s parents house and played hide and go seek, which Mel says is quite the experience, with a pregnant belly. I think Jordie out ran Mel. ha ha ha. Mel was able to spend some time with her niece Twyla and sister Leanne. We also spent a day golfing with Leanne, Kurtis, and Mel’s dad. We should of guessed it was going to be a slow golfing day when the first person in the group ahead of us accidentally threw their club into the top of a tree and lost it up there. It was pretty funny to watch it happen, but boy did we wish we were ahead of them. The next week we went to another reunion in Calgary put on by Rob and Janice who both did a spectacular job.The last weekend of August Mel had her 20th high school reunion during cornfest days. She enjoyed the get together even though few of her classmates showed up. She also did enjoy spending time with Carol’s and Gord’s children at cornfest days. Mel also started her Maternity Leave mid August, which allowed her to enjoy the rest of the summer without having to work.
In September, the baby came. September 9th at 7:06pm weighing 8lbs and 8 oz. our baby girl was born. We named her Natalie Jane. We chose Jane for her middle name so she would be named after Gary’s mom and Mel’s aunt. There were mild complications and so she stayed in the NICU for 3 days and then we came home. Mel`s parents came to help during the first week which was a real blessing.
In October, aunt Karen and Jenny Fleming hosted a baby shower for Mel and Nat. We went Halloween trick or treating in Dunmore with Carol, Kenzie, Jordie, and Jaron. It has been one of Mel’s favorite Halloweens. Mel and Nat went to Calgary for their second baby shower, this time with Calgary friends. Needless to say Natalie has lots of clothes that are very cute.
In November, we had Natalie’s baby blessing on our first anniversary and Mel’s mom’s birthday. Mel and Nat went on a scrapbooking retreat in Kelowna. It was Natalie’s first plane ride, which she slept through all but the last 10 minutes of it. For fun we went to an Adult learning Continuing education class to learn how to make crepes in Taber, we had a very enjoyable time. We had crepes with asparagus and ham, chicken and mushrooms, and dessert crepes with lemon and sugar, nutella and bananas, apples and brie cheese, and apricot jam. It was all yummy.
We have enjoyed a lot of our Sundays with Gord, Carol and their family throughout the year. We have enjoyed the meals, the games, and the friendships. We have also enjoyed going to the movies with Quinton, Braedon, Kenzie, and Jordie.
Natalie gets to spend lots of time with Gary’s parents although we’re sure that they would like to see her a little more than they do. We also try to make sure she gets to visit Mel’s parents even though it isn’t as often. As you can see, we are very blessed and have had a very good year.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Gary and Melanie
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