For My Sister...

The moment a child is born,
the mother is also born.
She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never.
A mother is something absolutely new.
~Rajneesh

A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them. ~Victor Hugo

Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved. ~Erich Fromm

Parents have the glorious opportunity of being the most powerful influence, above and beyond any other, on the new lives that bless their homes. ~ L. Tom Perry

We can see that the baby is as much an instrument of nourishment for us as we are for him. ~ Polly Berrien Berends

Photo: A rest in the blueberry patch. My sister, Racheal, and her newborn son.

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I hope you like the picture, Racheal! Feel free to use it if you want. I think it's beautiful.

My Newest Nephew

I was so thrilled to be able to take a few pictures of my newest nephew, Jem, while I was visiting family this past week.

He is almost 1 month and already 13 lbs... such adorable chubbiness!

He looks so amazingly like my own babies that I had many flashbacks while cuddling him and watching him and smelling his precious newborn skin. Just a couple months to go for my own little one! :)

I hope your happy with the way they turned out, Racheal!

Hiking in Waterton National Park

In this family, we really enjoy the great outdoors and hiking up in the mountains is one of our favorite things to do. This past Canada Day it was a free pass to get into the Waterton National Park and so we packed a lunch and took the hour and a half drive out of the prairies to the Rocky Mountains.

Despite a day of very mixed weather; cloudy... windy... rainy... sunny... we still had a wonderful time hiking up to Bertha Falls. It took us about 3 hours because of all the times I wanted to stop and take photos!

The scenery was breathtaking... so much more so since it is so rare that we get to enjoy the mountains, lakes, trees and wild flowers.

Not to mention the fresh and woodsy scent of lush forest!

We are so glad we took the time to go... even if I am 30 weeks pregnant and a little slower in my walking than usual!

Such a beautiful way to spend our Canada's birthday... I love this country.

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