Sunday, May 18, 2014

The end of Winter

Well dang!  Once again I let time slip by with no blog and no update on how life has been in the Connolley house.  Here are some of my fav moments with some of our favourite people!
Sam teaching baby Nixon about animal hats!
Second annual trip to Lake Louise.  This year we (Sam and Shaun, I was on foot) snowboarded and it was sooooo much better.  Sam is a natural, the weather was outstanding.  I see an amazing family tradition that only gets more and more fun each year.  Perhaps next year Sam and I could take lessons together!


St Patty's day!!!

We had an awesome visit with Sam's cousins who were in town for a wedding.  I didn't do a great job of capturing all their fun but it was awesome to watch and so good for the heart.  Not much better than 3 little loves, glow sticks, woopie cushions and lego.
Relaxing trio after hard playing.  So sweet.

Easter, Mother's Day Run, Tball, Kite Flying and Other Springy Things!

Spring came in like a WHIRLWIND... I realize it's either supposed to be lamb or lion but neither fit the description!  We've had some really awesome family moments this spring.

We purchased zoo passes for this year and made it just in time to say good bye to the elephants.  They are heading to Washington to a beautiful elephant sanctuary... Sam and I agreed that just might mean we have to go there to visit them instead!
Love this boy!
Sammy woke up on Easter morning to discover a trail to his easter surprise.

We also went for our third year in a row to the Airdrie easter egg hunt.  It's such a cool event with more chocolate than a herd of kids could ever want!
This year we completed our 5th Mother's Day Run.  Shaun and I were up just past midnight the night before making shirts for our team.  Each year the run becomes a little easier to physically run and little more meaningful to our family.
This year we entered a team called 'For the Love of Sam'.  
Another awesome thing happened and my parents decided to come down and complete the run with us.  Thanks Mom and Trev!  We love you so!
Apparently my OCD about being incredibly early for everything combined with our really well made team shirts attracted a bit of attention.  As we finished taking our family photos, we got a pic taken by CityTV.  Then Global TV interviewed Sam and I.  It brought out a ton of emotion in me and when I pulled myself together, I found them interviewing Shaun.  Before we had even completed the race I got a text from a friend saying we were on the morning news!!!  I included the link to it at the bottom.  At the finish line we got a family photo taken by the Calgary Sun which apparently was on the front page.  What can I say... they were really great shirts!
Funny... Jen pointing out the 'Walker' sign!!!
Sam and the girl of his dreams having a post race snack.  He probably ran 2.5km out of the 5km.  At one point he was even hassling me that my run wasn't fast enough and probably not even a run at all!!!  Tough love.  I got my best person time and felt amazing at the end.  Well done team, well done!
I'm so grateful that I signed Sam up for T-ball this spring.  It's been so cute to watch and he really loves it.  It's been so much more successful than soccer was last spring.  Here's Sam having some batting practice (little tongue sticking out reminds me of my cousin Anthony!)
Juice break!
Handsomest third baseman in the league!
Sam received this airplane for his 4th birthday and we never really tried it too much.  We brought it out to the acreage this weekend and found out it is SOOOO much fun.  Sam chased it around the yard for hours!

If you ever need a little pick me up, let me know.  I'll share some sideline time with you watching Sam and his cousin Kaili together.  They are two peas in a pod.  She is patient with him and he absolutely adores her!
Not even I can deny that this little relationship isn't just the greatest ever.  Dang big dog winning me over... but seriously look at that face!!!
Hey Grandpa, who's your friend there!?!?1
YES!!!  Our baby tree survived the winter!  YIPPEE!!

http://globalnews.ca/video/1324496/news-hour-may-11-5/

Hopefully you can click this link and it will take you to our minute on the news.  Skip to minute 5:28.  Though VERY overwhelming, I'm so grateful that after all these years we finally got the opportunity to say how much the NICU and the staff there meant to us and I'm sure 1000s of families.

Happy spring everyone.  Summer will be here in a flash!