Confessions

So I feel the need to get some stuff off my chest.....Before I start I just want you to know that I love my children with all my heart, they are my world and when Maci asks me from time to time, If there was a line up of 1000 kids would I pick her, Cohen and Seth all over again, the answer is a resounding YES!!!! still I feel like there are some parts of my life that aren't so glamorous and sometimes just downright sucks so I feel like I need to get them out there(cyberly). 1. I am ALWAYS tired, doesn't help to have a nursing baby that eats 3 times in the night..... 2. Many times through out the week, if someone took a snap shot of my house for all to see, it would look like a bomb went off in there. 3. This may sound lame but I really appreeciate whoever invented that suction hose thingy of a vaccuum and have created a new permant home for my vaccuum in my kitchen. 4. I often feel this" Me vs. them" feeling and feel like"they" are winning most of the time 5. I sooo look forward to nap and bed times and sometimes am NOT ready for them to end. 6. I have resorted to putting a tv/dvd player in Cohen's room and will put him in his crib(where he can't climb out) and let him watch a movie from time to time( not done daily). Something I would have never done with Maci and would have probably judged some parent for doing that back in the day . 7. The "laugh or cry" idea is often how I feel at the end of the day, sometimes I laugh and sometimes I cry. 8.I sometimes feel envious of Ryan getting to leave the house everyday and go to an office where his desk and work doesn't get messed up the moment it is completed. 9.I use styrofoam plates and utensils for more than just picnics(occasionaly ) 10.My laundy is the enemy in my home and we live out of clean laundry bakets most of the time. Anyways, as a social workerr we are always trying to help our clients to "reframe their reality" so I am going to take this approach for my 10 points I just made. 1. My baby is a well fed, healthy baby and I am lucky I am able to nurse him b/c some women aren't given that opportunity. 2. At least my kids have a place they can feel comforatble enough in the express themselves and learn about their world. 3. A messy kitchen floor shows my kids are well fed and are learning to use their taste touch and smell senses well. 4. A healthy dose of competition never hurt anyone. 5. Waking up just means that I get to spend more time with my little ones, time I will miss one day when they are all grown up 6.I am able to recognize in myself when I need a time out from Cohen, as he is 2 and is by far my most challenging kid right now. Everythiing is usually better after a quick episode of Dora or the Wiggles for both of us. 7. By laughing at myself forces me to not take my life so seriously and sometimes a girl just needs to cry and that is ok 8.I know that me being home with the kids isn't forever and I will get to to social work again one day and this is time I will never get back. 9.At least I am preserving water by not running the dishwasher as much. 10. I can use laundy time as a a time to teach Cohen his colours and Maci the importance of helping out around the house( something we are struggling with a bit right now with her). Anyways, I would love to here some feedback from some of you that may be able relate to some of my points and if you have any other fresh veiwpoints on the domestic life,feel free to offer it as well

The blogging slacker resurfaces

SO here I am again, in front of this cyber stranger, my own blog. Yes I am the first to admit I am one of the most fickle, fair weathered bloggers around. I just can't seem to get my act together when it comes to blogging......sigh..... Anyways, so now we are settled in our new place in Calgary, New Brighton is our community in the far south east. We are quite content here for now. There is a splash park one block from our home and lots of parks around every corner so the kids are entertained with minimal effort by me=). Ryan is busy as usual and we are lucky when he is home for dinner, about once every 2 weeks or so. I was prepeared for this so it comes as no suprize.He is now a real lawyer, no more school. He had his bar call in Ontario on June 19th. YEAH!!! Big pat on the back for both of us, I have no problem taking credit along with him for getting through law school. Most important change in our lives was the birth of my perfect, beautiful, healthy baby boy, Seth Ryan Clements. He was born on April 25th. He was 8pds 10 oz. and 21 inches. He was born in Oakville ON, a month before we moved out here. The birth was a C section(Ontario doesn't like to do a VBAC if it has been under 2 years since your last C section) so alas he was a section. I had a rare side effect to the spinal block, called a high spinal. Which basically froze everything from my toes to my eyelids including the nerves surrounding my lungs. So to make a long story short, I began to asphyxiate, they had to quickly intubate me and knock me out(GA) , so one moment I was sure I was dying and the next I woke up to see the most beautiful sight of all, Ryan holding our healthy little boy. There is a bit more to this story but it is quite personal and I don't feel like putting out there into cyber world. The kids have adjusted well to the move and we have met lots of friends already through church and our community. Maci is starting kindergarden at a french immersion school this fall and will be taking the bus every afternoon. Since Ontario starts kids at 4 for JK , she is technically doing Kindergarten for the 2nd time. We tossed around the idea of bumping her up into 1st grade b/c she is reading up a storm and writing full sentences but she would have been so young so we decided to put her in French. That way she will have a bit of an acedemic challenge and still be with her peers that are the same age as her. Cohen is TWO, need I say more. My days are filled with lots of strong willed little battles with him. Ryan and I call him our precious little Neanderthal as some of his tendencies seem to be almost barbaric at times. Don't get me wrong, he is the source of much entertainment in our home, his talking is getting better everyday. Infact today he learned to say Hannah Montana, which just made Maci's day. He is obsessed with the letters and alphabets and can almost do the whole alphabet in the right order(almost). Seth is perfect in every way, except his sleeping from the hours of 12 am -7 am stinks but oh well, sleep is overated. He came out with this great full head of hair and it just keeps growing. The biggest suprise was the his hair is auburn but getting redder by the day!!!!! He has these peircing blue eyes and is such a content little guy.I am really enjoying him and lots of cuddle time. I am home with kids right now but come fall I will be starting some contract work with an Adoptions Agency. I will be interviewing families who want to adopt kids from Children's Services and then taking the content of my interviews and composing an extremely long assessment which will contain the content of the interviews and my own recommendations if the family should or should not be considered for adoption. I will be able to do all the writing from home and can decide how much work I want to take on. It is important for me to keep up with the social work profession and this is a perfect way for me to be home with the kids while they are so little and still keep my foot in the professional door,so to speak. All in all, life is good. We are happy with our decision to move back to Alberta and are quite content to settle down and call Calgary home. I really will try harder to update this thing but that is all I can commit to for now=) The pics are just a random assortment from the last few months, the one or Ryan is a pic I took off his firms website.

Just a few minor changes to our life=)

SO last you heard on this blog we were settled here in Oakville, ON. Life was busy but stable, well guess what? We have gone and totally shook things up a bit. First off, Ryan and I knew that it was time to do some serious discussing about what we wanted our future to look like for our family. There were long hours of talking, weighing out pros and cons and really trying to look at what is best for all our family members and we came up with the decision that we needed to move home(Alberta). After the decsiosn was made, Ryan decisied to send off 1 resume to his top choice law firm in Calgary and see what happens and low and behold the very next morning, they called him at work and offered him a job on the spot. His firm is a huge international corporate law firm in Calgary, Blakes. They were very generous to us and made it near impossible to refuse. We were shocked how easy it was. I then contacted an old friend who is now a realtor in Calgary, Arlin Silverman( fabulous realtor if you are looking for one in Calgary) who worked super hard with us long distace and then Ryan flew out this past weekend and in one day found us the perfect house for us. It is in a neighbourhood called, New Brighton in the SE of Calgary. We already know lots of people who live there as well so that is a big bonus. Everything has really fallen into place for us rather quickly. We are thrilled to be close to family again, 2 sets of grandparents 2 hours away and all of Ryan's sibling and their kids all either in Edmonton or Taber not to mention loads of great friends in Alberta that we miss like crazy!!! Now the tricky part is that we are moving the end of May and I just need to have a baby in between now and then( C section scheduled for April 25th) pack my house and get out there. Good thing for family cause it will be tough but I have a few peole that I am worshipping at this moment, that will make the whole process accomplishable(not sure if that is a word). My sister, Bronwyn is going to be staying with us for the end of April and whole month of May to help me with everything. SInce I will have a lovely wound in my tummy, I won't be able to do the lifting of 2 babies, One very big baby who is 39 pds and our new little boy, as well as pack boxes etc.... Ryan's mom has offered to come out and fly back with me so I am not flying alone with 3 kids( can you imagine the gong show, YIKES!!!). My mom will coming to help out a few diff times from when babe is here till we move, so as you see I have some wonderful women in my life that will make this whole adventure worth while. Anyways, that is our newest adventure for now. I am going to try to put up some pics of our new house here. I am getting rusty on the bloggin and can't seem to remember how to get paragraphs on my blogs. It all just goes up in one big chunk, any help would be appreciated! I have attached the link to a video our realtor made of our new home on You tube. You will have to copy and paste the link as I can't figure out how to get it to take you directly there

My Blogging Revival

I just needed a gentle push from a friend(thanks Kristy) and here I am again. I have actually been thinking about blogging for a while but just kept putting it off until now. So there is no way to really fill you in on all the happenings since June 07 but I will try to sum up a bit of our first year here in Oakville, Ontario. First off, I must say that we love our little spot here in the GTA( Greater Toronto Area) We are only 35km from downtown TO, although with the crazy traffic around here it usually takes a bit longer to get into the city. We have met great neighbours and friends that have made us feel very welcome. Oakville is right on the shores of lake Ontario and right in between Toronto and Hamilton. It is just under an hour to Niagara Falls and the NY border. Ryan loves his firm. He has had a true taste of"Life on the Street". He routinely gets on the train around 7am and doesn't get home till 7-9pm that night, visits with us, helps gets the kids in bed and then off to do a few more hours of work from home. He often has to work on weekends as well. I had been warned that this year would be like this but it still makes it just a tad bit tiring for me and solo kid duty all the time. He will be done his articles at the beginning of June and then will start as a "real" lawyer in September. Maci is in junior kindergarten and goes 2 full days/week and every other Friday. She likes school and has had no trouble adjusting to school all day. She is quite the social little thing and comes home with amusing stories daily. She takes the bus right around the corner which simplifies things for me. She has really caught on to reading and writing and is able to both amazingly well. Cohen is 20 months and is such a fun kid. His personality is really coming out. His new love of his life is Dora and will sit and answer all her questions. He is learing funny little words all the time and even proudly announced to me the other day , saying" I poo". He said it with such pride( a true male=)He and Maci are really starting to play well together and he will start to scream and laugh as soon as he sees her bus come around the corner. And for me, I am staying home for now with the kids. It has been a bit of an adjustment for me not to be working a bit while doing the mom thing but with ryan's crazy schedule, we just figured that the kids needed to have at least one parent around. I love my 2 little clingons, so much that I am now having our 3rd baby, another boy. I am scheduled for a C section on April 25th. We are excited for this little guy to join us!! I am itching to start my Masters in Social Work and am just trying to figure out when the best time that would be to start. I would have to do it very part time as I will be juggling the mom thing at the same time. Well that is a bit of what is going on here in Oakville. I promise to be a bit more dilligent with my blogging from now on=)

Settling in Oakville

So many of you may think I have given up on my blog altogether, well I haven't I was just a little wrapped up with the move and with Facebook around I am finding I am neglecting my blog a little. So we are all settled into our new place in Oakville, we love our home so big and roomy, cleaning it isn't all that fun though. We have some great neighbours so the kids have been playing lots. WE have seen some old friends from Alberta already and done some exploring as well. Maci is excited to start junior kindergarten in the fall at a school close by. She get to ride the little yellow school bus which I think is adorable. I am having to work a few feelings of anxiousness when I think of her on the bus but a teacher meets them when they get off and her's is the first stop on and off at home so it should be ok. Ryan is just finishing up his " professional Ethics Course" at Ryerson University in Toronto and then will begin his articles in August. We are headed back to Alberta in a few weeks for Mac and Jorie's wedding( ryan's bro) and then we will drive our mini van that we left out there all the way back to Oakville. Should be quite the drive with 2 kids!!!!! Talk to me after and see if I survived!!! Anyways, I have had a few requests to post pics of our place, so will do that soon. Just wanted to check in and let you know we are here safe and sound and love it so far.

one more small town craziness!!

So I need to share one Small town moment that takes the cake. Today I went up to the good ol' TC homehardware and bought one of those plastic kid pools. I got it to my van and found it way to big to fit in. So I am thinking "crap" I am going to have to roll this thing down the road all the way to my dad's house and look like a total moron doing it, when the sales guy who I have never met in my life hands me his truck keys and says' here, just use my truck" So I jump in this massive truck and take the pool home. I was in shock at his niceness and thanked him a bunch and probably sounded like a babbling fool but I was just so shocked by his random act of kindness. anyways that's all really. We are off to Edmonton to stay with friends on monday and anxiously await Ryan's arrival on thursday, then we do his convication of friday and then all fly out to Toronto on Saturday the 9th. Crazy!!! Meg

Small Town Simplicities

Well I have been in southern alberta for about 3 weeks now. I have spent more time here this last three weeks than I have in years. We are defianetly getting anxious and ready to have our family reuntied and start our next phase of lifein Oakville/Toronto but I haven't forgotten to use this month to unwind a little from the hectic hussle bussle of city life. I have had a few experiences in this last while that has reminded me of some of the diffrences in the rural VS. urban lifestyle. First off, I have finally been able to loosen those grips of maternal control enough to let Maci out the door to play with neighbour kids. When I first got here, I only let her play outside when I was able to stand in the yard and watch her the whole time. Last night a little girl asked if she could come play and I let her out on her own. She was so excited to go out and play like a big girl. It felt a little like a kid releasing a trapped butterfly from a jar. I did open all the windows in the house and turned off the tv and dryer so I could hear her without standing at the windows. This may not seem like a big step for most of you, but for an urban mom, not to mention a mom who has worked in Child Protection for the last 6 years and has a jaded and quite untrusting view of the world- This was a huge step. She came back safe and sound at the end of the playtime!! Another little small town moment happened the other day. Lesley was making Lasagna and had gone up to the Trading Company (only grocery store in Magrath) to get some cottage cheese, she mistakingly got sour cream instead. I went up to the store with the 2 sour creams in hand, and asked to exchange them . I had forgotted the recepit. I knew the sales clery( a classmates fathers) and he let me exchange them without the recepit and also told me not to worry about the small diffrence between the two prices. These are things that just wouldn't happen in my grocery store in Edmonton. I still chuckle as I drive around Magrath and EVERYONE waves at me, although I don't know most of them. Usually in the city, if you are not using both hands on the wheel , you are using one to honk with. One more thing, I was able to sign Maci up for soccer a few weeks late and now she is happliy playing on a little team for the remainder fo our stay.That would of never happened in Edmonton. A deadline is a deadline!!!! This is really my last example: I took Maci to story hour at the public library on Wednesday and the lady who was reading the stories is the very same one who read to me as a 4 year old at the Magrath library, Irene Gruiniger is her name and weird enough she looked the exact same even though 20 years had passed. Anyway, these examples are just a few simple things that have stood out to me while we have been here. Being here hasn't convinced me that a small town is where we should be. I feel most at home now in an urban setting, the slow paced lifestlye is ok to visit but doesn't fit for our family right now, especially for Ryan-he is a big city boy through and through but it has provided us a little respite and time for refueling and rejuvination, and for that we are greatful. Meghann

Homeless...floating.......whatever you want to call it

So me and the kids have been floating around southern alberta since them beginning of May. You can find us in Magrath, Taber, in our van(my mobile home) walmart, the park or wherever. We have been crashing between my family in Magrath and Ryan's in taber. They have both been wonderful to provide a shelter to my little vagabond family. Seriously, it feels really weird to not have a permanent place of my own. Well we do but it is on Ontario and our stuff is still on the moving truck for another week. Our whole routine is off and my kids are sleeping really crappy. It makes me appreciate the routine and structure we once had. Maci keeps asking when we are going home to Edmonton and then when I remind her we aren't she gets really sad. I know my last blogs have made me sound like a really wimp but this is all that is on my mind right now. Other things that are going on, Maci has joined a soccer team in Magrath. She will play every sat morning for 1 hour. She was super excited to go buy little cleats and shin pads. Cohen has figured out a new mode of transportation, it is the bum scooting boogie. He doesn't crawl he just bum scoots everywhere. He is getting pretty fast and has already managed to pull a shelf over on himself , unplugs some electrical plugs and dump over a big box of cd's. He is quite proud of himself and I am hoping it burns a few calories as well. I am going out for dinner to a yummy Japanese restaurant with some of my high school girlfriends tonight in Lethbridge so that will be a nice break. WE all miss Ryan and are counting down the days when our little family can be reunited again. To all our friends in Edmonton, especially all my fellow blogging mom's , we love and miss you all already. We loved Edmonton tons and will always have a special little spot in our hearts for our friends and time we spent there

I just need to Whine

There is nothing profound, amazing or really interesting about this blog, I just need to whine a little. SO Ryan left tonight for Toronto.......won't see him for5 weeks , waaaaahhhh...., single mom for 5 weeks, have to wake up with Cohen every night instead of every other now, sob, sob.... Our house is basically packed but still dumb things left to do(by myself with 2 kids). I'm trying not to feel too down about moving but it is hard. I love my friends, my work, SPA LADY. Just found out my SPA LADY membership won't transfer anymore, grrrr so now I have to pay$100, to get out of my contract. Alberta Health Care is harassing me.....I hate living out of suit cases.... There in nothing to eat in my house, well crappy stuff that there is a reason it was at the back of the cupboard. Maci is having emotional issues with moving and is acting out more than ever.... Don't get me wrong, I am excited for our new adventure it is just a hassle getting to that adventure.. I think I am just tired, so I should go to bed... Don't worry though I really am ok!!

Maci Balloon Dance party/good bye party

So yesterday Maci had 4 little friends over to have a balloon dance party( good bye party)We had a ton of balloons all over the living room( I made myself almost pass out by blowing up so many)They jumped around to kiddie music, played dress up, decorated cup cakes and had snacks. The kids had a ton of fun and it wore me right out, I fell asleep shortly after 7 pm last night. I never thought partying with a bunch of little girls would be so exhausting. Shows my good ol' party days are gone, hahaha......Today is also my last day volunteering at Maci's school. Everything is turning into the "last" of everything these days. Ryan leaves on Sunday to Toronto to study for the bar. We will be apart for 5 weeks. YIKES!! It'll be tough, especially on the kids( Maci in particular-she is a real daddy's girl) We have web cams in both locations so that will have to do. We will be down in Magrath/Taber for the month of May and then will be heading out east on June 9th( after ryan's convocation).

Our movers come in 6 days!!!!!

WEIRD!!!!

Anyway, here are some pics from the party yesterday!

Face Book

OK, so I have a confession- I have totally been cheating on my blog with Facebook. I have just been introduced to this crazy thing called Facebook and I have totally been ignoring my blog. For those of you who aren't familiar with it. It is this new social community that each person creates their own profile and then you can invite friends to join your network. It is crazy how many people I have connected with. Each person you connect with, you can then go into their profile and see who their friends with and connect with them if you want. You can also post pictures, join groups and so on. I have already connected with so many old friends that I haven't talked to in years. Anyways, I am having a blast with it and it is really easy to join. Just go to www.facebook.com Other than that, 13 days left till we move YIKES!!!!!!!! Meg

The Countdown is On.......Bye Bye Alberta....Hello Ontario

So I just got back from the post office. I went there to pay my $36 so Canada Post can connect our Edmonton address to our new Oakville address. It was a weird experience:kinda sad &kinda exciting all in one. It made it seem so final to be doing that. I finally broke down today and filled one box with my clothes, hey it is a start right. I have three weeks and I know they will fly by.

There are so many things I will miss here and a few I won't- like the ENDLESS winter weather(yes we were treated to ANOTHER snow fall last night)gotta love waking up to that. I am not one to converse about the weather, I have always felt it is a rather shallow topic and doesn't say too much for your conversation skills, so forgive me for just saying that this winter has really sucked!!!!!As I say that, I am reminded of my little 3 year old shadow saying to me this morning in the midst of my grumbling about the snow( while we were walking to the van on the way to her school)

"mom the snow is beautiful" as she ran in circles fascinated with her boot tracks. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying" no it sucks Maci" I just thought it instead.

I will miss my friends, some of them I have met through our ward, others I have met from previous wards, work, and just from the community.

I will miss my SPA LADY only 3 blocks from home.

I will miss my work- to all my crisis staff in the "pit"- I will miss those late late - like 3 am chats as we do the night shift," holding down the province", some crazy stuff was said in those wee hours of the morn. not to mention some crazy calls from intoxicated individuals and so on...

I will miss the beautiful Edmonton summers (even thought they are only like 6 weeks long).

I will not miss it getting dark at 11 pm though- very hard to convince a child it is bed time when kids are running all over outside and it looks like noon at 8 pm.

I will miss being able to drive home to southern Alberta in 5 hours.

On the other hand........

I am excited to be done the "school "phase of our life

I am excited to live in a real house

I am excited to meet new friends.

I am excited to be so close to Toronto but not actually have to live in it.

I am excited to like close to my mom and Joe and be within a days drive of all of my siblings.

I am excited to be in a humid place where my hands won't crack all the time.

I am excited to shop, there is some sweet shopping out east.

I am excited for my kids to be exposed to and learn about many different ethnic groups and cultures.

Those are just a few of my thoughts running through my mind tonight.............Well I am off to read my latest Jodi Picoult book while eating a bowl of key lime sherbet and then off to bed

My Own Private Easter Egg Hell

So I just wanted to start off by thanking all my family that contributed to my last blog on Grandpa. I really enjoyed hearing some more stories and felt closer to you all through the memories of him.

Nothing really earth shattering going on around here, well except trying to get ready to move across the country. I have packed a whole 1.5 boxes so far and am just procrastinating like crazy!!!

We are going home to my dad's and then Ryan's parents for easter. We are leaving tomorrow and will be back on Monday night. Maci is in full easter mode, just salivating over thoughts of candy and easter eggs. Today was her school easter party and I had the choice opportunity of being the parent helper today.

As I type, looking at my hands, stained with blue food coloring, I am reminded of the pure"gong show" of a day that easter party was. So I was put in charge of running the easter egg colouring station. Each kid brought 4 eggs to colour. We had about 5 buckets with food coloring and water mixture then stickers, sparkly glue, rubber bands and crayons to decorate. Anyways, at 10: 15 am, the class went to gym. Any kids who had not done their eggs stayed with me to dip ad decorate them. Well it turned out that at least 10 kids hadn't done them. So off the teacher goes and I am left with about 10 kids(the kids left over were the ones who didn't want to decorate during class, or the ones that couldn't focus on a task for the life of them) anyways( kids with issues), I have about 15 minutes to get all these kids to dye and decorate their eggs . Do the math=10 distracted 3/4 year olds + 40 eggs + 1 adult(me)+ 15 minutes= PURE BEDLAM.

I felt like I was in a horror movie!!!There were kids smashing their eggs,crying cause they rolled off the table and cracked, throwing them around, others wandering all over the room, little perfectionist girls that wouldn't hurry up and had to colour every last part of their egg. The clock was ticking. Kids whining to me to help them, kids taking other kids eggs, glitter glue spilling, ....I think you get the picture... So I have a confession... I totally squashed some of these little darlings creativity and took matters into my own hands. After trying desperately to keep track of whose eggs were whose, who still had to put stickers on, and failing miserably, I just started taking the eggs from the kids and making them all by myself , I found myself scribbling like a 3 year old would on their eggs and basically doing them for them while they stood there and looked at me like a mad women. I didn't even keep track of whose was whose. I just made sure that at the end, they all had 4 in their basket. By the end I wasn't even using the spoons to dip them, I was just dunking them in with my hand, holding them in the buckets and pulling them out.(hence the stained hands)

I know I sound like a terrible human and would probably not make a very good preschool teacher, but all I kept thinking about was those eager parents who would be looking in their child's little brown paper bag easter baskets and calculating exactly how many eggs there were and if they were decorated up to par.

I wouldn't confess this but it has been bugging me all day, so I am using this as a place to confess my sin of "creativity squashing". I know there are some parents out in Edmonton that are probably bragging up little Tommy's eggs, thinking he has some amazing newly discovered artistic ability, when little do they know that it was made by me.

Anyway, I don't think any of the parents read my blog so I feel I can vent.

Well that is enough for now. SHHHH..........this is our little secret

Remembering Grandpa Mark- 10 years later....

My Grandpa Mark Dahl passed away on March 29, 1997-ten years ago today. I wanted to write something special about my Grandpa. I have so many vivid memories of him, they have not faded with time.

I was 18 years old when he passed away. He was only 74. We lost him because of a rare form of cancer had developed in his lungs. He flew airplanes in World War 2. He was a pilot and flew a Lancaster Bomber. These planes were lined with Asbestos and he inhaled it. The asbestos lay dormant in his lungs for almost 50 years and then turned into lung cancer. I can't remember the technical name of this cancer but apparently other veterans have also lost their lives with the same form of cancer- still a causality of war so many years later.

Anyway at 18 years,I was "young and confused" in so many ways, I had so few constants at that time of my life that losing Grandpa was really rough- he being such a "rock" for me. He was always around for us.

Don't get me wrong, he was a very busy man. He was a doctor in Magrath for 45 years. An article in the Lethbridge Herald referred to him as," a quintessential country doctor, a Marcus-Welby-type physician who typified the traditional country doctor".I knew that I could find Grandpa in obvious places like the Magrath and then the Dahl Clinic or the Hospital,on a house call or out to one of the hutterite colonies( often Rockport or Old Elm- I had the chance to accompany him on numerous colony visits). If he wasn't at work then it was a pretty safe bet I could find him at home, downstairs sitting at the end of that little orange couch with the coloured Afghan on it. He was either watching the news or Star Trek or snoozing away. If it was nice out, there was a good chance he would be on his ride-on mower in his yard or in one of his kids yards( either my dad's, Allan's or Dennis's). If he was in the kitchen, he was always sitting at the end of the kitchen table with his back to the fridge .He might have been eating or reading the paper but there was ALWAYS a bright red can of coke in front of him,(compliments of that old white freezer in their garage with the never ending supply of coke and sometimes chocolate bars.).

Other vivid memories of grandpa are as follows:

Suspenders, briefcases with RMD on them,nice leather coats, walking sticks, chocolate malts in Cardston, doctors bag, the spontaneous coyote call he made with his hands and mouth, watching basketball games, going to movies , collection of sports illustrated, rocks- he loved rocks, dairy queen treats, going out to eat, at grandma days he would say" are your eyes bigger than your stomach", picture books of bomber planes from previous wars, waterton, hiking bears hump and hearing his infamous coyote call somewhere along the trail and for sure at the top, his black framed old person bike, (the one that came in a matching set with grandma's), his named stamped into all his books, oh I could go on..........

Grandpa was an example of selflessness. He had such a humble and quiet way about him as daily served his family, his patients and the community. I learned a few things about Grandpa (from people seeking me out to tell me stories of him after he had passed). I learned that Grandpa was known to drive into Lethbridge(from Magrath) in the middle of the night after receiving a phone call from an intoxicated person to drive them safely home. On the day he died, we were all at his house looking at pictures and grieving together. The doorbell rang and an older Native women was standing on the door step. She told me that she had just driven all the way from the reserve because she had a bad feeling about"Dr. Mark" and needed to know if he was ok. I told her that we lost him that morning and she just stood on the steps and wept.

I also remember a time when I was doing my practicum on the Blood Reserve( for my social work degree). I was participating in a community march through the town of Standoff( Family Violence Awareness). I was walking with a Native women and we were just making idle chit chat. She found out I was a Dahl from Magrath, and that Dr. Mark was my grandfather.She began to cry and then proceeded to tell me how much she loved him and how difficult it was for her to find another doctor after he passed, she then decided that she needed to tell everyone around who I was related to. For the rest of that march people kept coming to tell me more and more stories about Grandpa. That women from the march always came and gave me a hug and was sooo kind every time she saw me after that day.

Some of you may remember the beautiful German song that dozens of Hutterite women stood up and sang in the middle of the funeral. I also remember the funeral director telling us that this was the biggest funeral they had ever done.The lines wrapped around the entire stake center (during the viewing) and the chapel and gym were filled to the back. I was also told that the year that Grandpa died, there was more than one little hutterite boy named Mark after him.

My little boy is also named after him.

I love my Grandpa, I think about him often and love to tell my kids stories about him. Maci says that she knows she met him in Heaven and laughs when she hears stories of him eating worms and making coyote calls. I miss him everyday. I love you Grandpa Mark-

love Meghann

Please feel free to post in the comments section any thoughts , feelings and memories you have about Grandpa Mark . Also pass on this link to anyone else you may have want to share in this tribute. I want to send this to Grandma Helen .

Best Friends-Maci and Ella

So I just wanted to share some sweet little pictures of my Maci and her best friend, Ella. Maci and Ella have been friends for a few years now and Maci just adores her. She loves playing with her and is always wanting to call her and often asks what I think Ella is doing at any given moment.Here are some pics of their latest play date, they made binoculars out of toilet paper rolls and went outside to go "bird watching".

Mcfamous!!!!Click on Mcfamous

So what I am about to tell you is not a joke. My dad and step mom(Lesley) can be seen on Mcdonald's bag's and cups all over the world starting this month. I will attach an article from the Calgary Sun so that you an hear the story from Lesley. She tells it better than I.

Say cheese! The new face of McDonalds Story about love of hiking put couple's photo on chain's cups and bags Calgary HeraldPublished: Friday, March 16, 2007 MAGRATH - When Lesley Dahl sat down at her computer last April, she was just looking for information about global warming. Now she and her husband are part of a global marketing campaign, and their faces can be seen on McDonald's cups and bags all over the world. Their journey into the fast-food nation began when Dahl, who lives in Magrath, did a computer search and came across a website for the McDonald's Global Casting Call. Email to a friendPrinter friendly Font: * * * * "There were a lot of features of people and their passions all over the world, and I thought, 'Hey, I wouldn't mind writing about ours,' so I did," says Dahl, 55. Restricted to 100 words or less, Dahl submitted a story about herself and her husband, and their love for hiking. Months passed, and Dahl was contacted by McDonald's, informing her that she and 23 other people from around the world had been selected out of more than 13,000 entrants to become the new faces of the restaurant chain's "I'm lovin' it" campaign. Lesley and her husband, DeVar, were in Chicago this week for the unveiling of their packaging. "It's hard to imagine it, really," says Dahl. "Initially, I just wanted to get our kids and grandkids to see it, and they were so excited. But in Chicago it was quite amazing to be in the restaurant where people actually had our bags on their tables, and were walking out the door with us. It was quite a shock." The new cups and bags will be available at McDonald's beginning this month and throughout the year. The Dahls were the only Canadians selected in the Global Casting Call.

See I am not kidding around. Maci thinks it is hilarious that her grandparents are on the bags. She wants to go everyday to try to see we can get their bag.They went to London last summer for a week and did the photo shoot there. They were wined and dined by Mc D's the entire week.

So if any of you are doing some high class dining, check your bags and cups and see if you see two people sitting on the side of a mountain. Lesley's global casting # is #9.

Look in the link for this blog and you can see a collage of pics from their Chicago trip

Black Gold Rec Center( Leduc)

Last night we took the kids to Blackgold Rec Center in Leduc. The kids pools were amazing and so much fun. Maci was in heaven and Cohen was amused and intrigued by the water. It was his first time swimming. Then we went to dinner at a friends house with another couple where they BBQ'd(no it is not really warm here but Graham was willing to stand out in the cold. The steaks turned out great). . We had a great time and it made me realize how much I love our friends and how I am going to miss that part of our life soooo much here. Anyway, here are some pics from swimming.(Cohen didn't swim in his PJ's. I just changed him first and then I took the pics).

Mission Completed

I am writing to y'all from the Marriott at Eaton's Center in downtown Toronto. It is a beautiful hotel attached to one of the biggest mall's in Toronto.

So I arrived in Oakville on Wed evening. My realtor took me out for dinner and then on Thursday morning we began the house hunt. I saw a few places I liked and some that I didn't and some really nice brand new town homes but they were surrounded with dirt and mud as lawns had not been planted yet and weren't going to be for quite some time, not to mention construction people everywhere , so anyway in the afternoon I had about 2 I was waffling between when Garry(the realtor) said "let's go back to my office and see if there are any new listings" so we did and that is when we found the house we have now rented. We are renting for the first little while (lease is a year)while we get settled in Oakville and learn the areas. We will then buy within the year.

I do love Oakville, it is a gorgeous little city and so much shopping and 1/2 hour drive to downtown Toronto.It is on the shore of lake Ontario and even has a lighthouse. There are tons of trails, ravines and parks too.

I also got Maci registered in junior kindergarten. I love the school. She has a science, drama and art room. The school is built around a Reggio philosophy-the thought being that kids are treated as individuals-for example-each kid brings a snack to school but they get to choose when they want to eat it. There is no"snack time" allotted. Also only a few kids will go on a field trip at a time, depending on the child's specific interest. For example, why would a kid go to a circus field trip if they were scared of clowns. I am so impressed with her school. They also have a pet guinea pig that the kids get to take turns taking home each weekend to take care of it.

Anyway,now that I found a place we are in Toronto all weekend to shop and play(my mom and I).

Here are pics of the house.

Sorry for the repeats I can't figure out how to delete the pics without deleting the whole post???

I love the toy room/family room-that is a fully finished basement. It even has a cold room in it.

Another cool thing is that the island in the kitchen is portable. I forgot to take pics of the bedrooms but there are four upstairs and the master bedroom is huge!!!!