The past few months... in pictures

He is super impressed with himself, can't you tell?
Adjustable mop = Chephren's new favorite toy!

'Reading the paper'

Self-feeding continues to be the bane our our existence in terms of keeping the floor clean, however, he loves it.

Doing the dishes with Grammy.

Family time in Canmore.

His new favorite spot in the house - the big chair in his room with a stack of books!

The pics should say it all... we have spent the past three months (actually, the past 18 months) chasing after Chephren. He is getting busier by the day (I didn't think that was possible!). He is now talking more, running, 'reading', 'cleaning', and spending as much time outside as he can talk me into! (which is quite a lot!)

All is well on the Hasse front... my only regret is that we haven't had as many 'adventures' as I would normally like. The 'living with less' philosophy has kept us closer to home as of late. Up next on the horizon for us is building in Nordegg this summer and a trip to the Okanagan next week for me (for some much-needed time OUTSIDE)! I can't wait.

Big hugs from our family to yours. Thanks for checking in!

Love, the Hasses xoxo

The Neglected Family Blog Finally Sees Some Action!

HEY! So sorry to those of you who have been trying to keep up with the Hasse's, I have been terrible at keeping this one up to date, but this time I have an excuse! (It's a good one, believe me). If you don't already know, I started up another blog in January about a new challenge that I (and increasingly we, as in Trent and I) are undertaking. The challenge is to 'live with less' for 365 days. Specifically, no purchasing of new items, except for the essentials such as groceries for one full year. I won't rant about it here, but if you are interested in checking it out go to: http://marebarenecessities.blogspot.com/

Okay, so, what else have we been up to? I have done a few trips to Calgary for work over the past few months. One of them was to cover a presentation by Brian McKeever to a group of parents and professionals of students with visual impairments, and of course, the students themselves. If you didn't already know, McKeever is the first Canadian Athlete to be competing in both the Able-bodied Olympics and the Paralympics during the same year. Brian is visually impaired and will be competing this upcoming Saturday in cross-country skiing. He was a wonderfully motivating speaker and it was just awesome to hear him talk. Go Brian!

It is Olympic fever in this house. Trent and I have been watching religiously over the compter at ctvolympics.ca (which is FREE)! We have been loving the games so far and are feeling so, so proud to be Canadian! Go Canada Go!

As for the little man, he is doing just awesome. He is getting super tall and as a result is thinning out quite a bit, making him look much more like a boy than a baby. It kind of makes me sad to see the baby go, but I am delighted to have such a happy and busy toddler on my hands. He is an absolute riot, and Trent and I enjoy playing with him as he has such a great sense of humour. As you can see from the photos below, he is a gooooood sport!

Don't worry, we don't torture him ALL of the time...

That's all for now, lots of love from our home to yours!

The Hasse's

Christmas and New Years 2009

Whew! Am I ever glad to see January 2010! Christmas was just a crazy, crazy whirlwind for us, as it always seems to be. Have you ever seen the movie 'Four Christmases'? Let's just say that I can strongly identify with the couple who is trying to escape to Figi! On the other hand, now it is January, which is the LONGEST and DARKEST and COLDEST month of the year. Not that I am complaining (well, I guess I am, just a little bit). Bring on the cold and snow then!

Yeah! Bring it ON!

So, what exactly have we been up to for the past month or so... We hosted an open house on December 12 which was super fun, even if Edmonton was the 'second coldest place on the planet' on that particular day. Just our luck! Oh well, it was sure memorable because of the bitter, bitter cold. Our friends and family stayed just long enough to make sure that their cars would still start before they left again! Luckily, everyone made it home safe and sound. The evening was also memorable because Trent's dad played Santa for the kids: Chephren and Mya. Both of them cried hysterically (which, admittedly, was kind of funny)! Oh, the things that we do to our kids...

See? They are loving it!

Chephren and I both got sick right after that, so that time period is a bit fuzzy. Trent and I did manage to get away to Nordegg with some friends for a few days before Christmas which was such a great, great time. We had such a blast and it was a wonderful break from the daily grind. Chephren stayed home with his Grampy so we even managed to get in a few days of activity.

Family photo during the open house

After Nordegg (ahhh, Nordegg), the hustle and bustle of Christmas set in. We made the rounds to the four families and ate too much, drank too much and were spoiled rotten. Just what Christmas is supposed to be about right? I won't rant about it here, but just know that next year we are planning to start some 'new' family traditions...

This is my brother Ben 'babysitting'. Cute hey?

After all of the extreme fun of Christmas, I needed a break, so, rather than go to Canmore with my husband to ice climb and ring in the New Year, I stayed back with Chephren for a few days of rest and recovery. It was great. We bought a ski attachment for the chariot so I have been out pulling my son around the farm like the donkey that I am. And yes, that is my idea of a fun time.

I think he enjoys it too, don't you?

Now that the new year is here, I have made some resolutions for myself as I do every year. I put them right on my pantry door where I will see them EVERY DAY. Do you think it will help? I hope so. If I can follow my plan, I should be a rich, skinny, fit, yogini with another triathlon or two under my belt by the end of the year. Oh, and the house in Nordegg should be just about done. HA! Wish me luck! And good luck to all of you who have delusional resolutions as well!

Catherine agrees that my resolutions might be a bit of a stretch!

Cheers everyone and all the best in 2010!

He's WALKING, He's WALKING!!!

Ok, Ok, so he started walking like 2 months ago... and I am apparently continuing to be lousy at keeping this thing updated. BUT, I know that if you know me, you are not surprised in the least.

So... here is the 2 month recap:

October:

-We spent Thanksgiving in Calgary at my aunt's place, dogs and all. It was the first time for Chephren to meet his Great-Grandpa and second cousin Rylan.

-Spent the following weekend at the Canadian Vision Teachers Conference in Banff. It was a crazy, crazy busy time but it was a huge hit as well. I managed to sell some of my photographs at the conference and some of them were featured on the conference cards and keynote gifts as well, so it was exciting for me.

-At the same time as the conference, my brother Ben suffered a huge health setback. My parents had to fly to Ottawa on an emergency flight and we were all pretty shaken up about this. I don't want to go into the details here, as it is not my story to tell, but know that he is on the road to recovery and greatly looking forward to coming home this Christmas.

-I came home from Banff to a boy that was now taking some steps on his own!

-Trent turned 31 at the end of October (ha, sucker!)

-We hosted a pumpkin-carving party at our place and made everyone wear costumes this year. It was a super fun time had by all! (I won the costume contest by the way... I really had to make an effort here because I am the worst pumpkin carver EVER - well, next to Rickshaw that is!)

November:

-Chephren turned one in a very low-key birthday celebration. We continue to be just thrilled to bits with him.

-Trent, Chephren and I went to Maui with my parents for 11 days. It was such a wonderful holiday. Highlights included: snorkeling with turtles, diving with my dad (and more turtles), visiting with friends from back home that were on vacation as well, Trent and I having a few date nights, seeing 'Uncle Willy K' - a local singer, driving both the North road and the road to Hana, going to the beach and pool everyday, and watching my baby turn into a toddler right before my eyes! Chephren started saying words while in Hawai'i and also started to basically run with all of the practice on the grass/sand. He loved the beach, the surf and the pool and was an excellent traveller. We loved every minute of our trip together!

December:

-So far, December has been all about playing outside in the snow with Chephren, and visiting friends and family. We are planning an open house for this weekend with a visit from 'Santa' so I am excited to see what Chephren's reaction is to that!

-New words for Chephren include: Hot, Ball, and Grampy. He also says 'Ho, Ho, Ho', roars like a tiger and woofs like a dog. Fun times!

Well, I think I'll sign off for now and chase after my son (he has been eating dirt while I write this). Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, the Hasses

Hasse's on the loose!

Since I last wrote we have been here, there and everywhere. I know, I know... shocker. Apparently we are a family that is incapable of 'taking it easy' and choose instead to run around all over the place with our wide-eyed and yet continually smiling son. So, here is an update on the antics of the past 6 weeks or so:

Towards the end of August, our dear friends Sue and Mark came for a visit from Calgary. They had been in livng in San Diego for the past 5 years or so, so it was great to finally have them out to the 'ranch'. In true Hasse style, we took them for a quad ride, and even Sue, who was 7 months pregnant at the time, enjoyed it. She is a real trooper. We loved having them and hope to see them again really soon - next time with their new little one in tow!

The next weekend we headed to Skeleton Lake with our great friends Benn, Jill and Mya. They have a lake lot there and proved to be unbelievable hosts. The kids played, the boys dirtbiked (aka also played) and the girls DANCED! (and drank wine of course)! We had a wonderful weekend and it was a fabulous way to end the summer. Thanks again you guys!

The following weekend we left for Palm Springs. Our friends Chad, Carla and their son James hosted us at their place down there... and what a place it is!!! We were absolutely spoiled while we were there and enjoyed shopping (especially Trent), pool time (especially Chephren) and lots of food and drink (Maren's favorite). We also headed out to see Joshua Tree National Park and would love to come back again someday for some climbing. It looked truly RAD! We loved the area and had an amazing time.

The next weekend, September 19, we attended a wedding in Drayton Valley. My beautiful cousin Candice married a wonderful guy, John, and they had a heck of a celebration. It was great to see my dad's extended family and to get recent pictures with Grandma. She was in great spirits and looking super healthy so that was great to see.

Whew! I'll bet you are thinking that we were done for travelling this fall but you would of course be wrong. We spent the last weekend of September at our lot in Nordegg. We went out there to 'supervise' the stumping of the lot, which for me meant a lot of sitting around and drinking beer. It was GREAT! My mom's friends Anne, Bernie and Laura were also there and they proved to be super fun company. Great weather and a great end to September!

Last but certainly not least, mom and I had just the best day yesterday. We started the afternoon with shopping and starbucks, followed by a stellar dinner at Murietta's on Whyte. Last but so far from least it is not even funny, we hit the Jason Mraz concert at the Jubilee Auditorium. What a fantastic show! If you get the chance to see him, GOOOOO! He is truly amazing.

As for the 'little wild thing' - he turned 11 months yesterday. He continues to grow and change literally every day. His new tricks include: waving bye-bye, clapping his hands, doing sign language (finished, more, drink and milk), standing independently, almost walking (he has taken a few steps), and of course he has cut a few more teeth... he is now up to TEN! He is still just chock full of personality and we love him more each and every day!

That's all for now, expect another crazy update in a few months, we have big plans coming up... including a trip to Maui! Yahoo!

Cheers and clear skies,

The Hasse's xoxo

Getting back on my feet

Hi there,

I was wondering if my blog was even still going to be on here when I logged on today, given that it has been so long since I updated it, I thought that it might have been taken down :)... I do have a good reason for this, well, I guess you could call it an excuse, well, several excuses actually.

As I have alluded to in previous e-mails, Trent and I had a wickedly awesome but busy summer planned. Trent is working 4 days a week due to the slowing economy and I am still at home with the little guy so we thought, hey, let's get out and do some rad stuff! We began the summer with a bang, and did an attempt on Mt. Athabasca with a group of friends on June 15th. We left the parking lot at 2:15 a.m. and it was 12 DEGREES CELSIUS! This is not what you might call ideal glacier travel conditions. But, we headed up to the glacier in the dark anyway, just to see if things might cool down. Not so much, so, after about 3 hours of walking, we turned around and headed down. It wasn't a total loss, but it sure wasn't the day we had planned on. C'est la vie I suppose.

The next adventure for me was a triathlon the following weekend in June. It was a sprint distance event in Spruce Grove and I actually had a great race. I am super happy with my time and enjoyed the race a lot. It was neat to race in Spruce as I knew many, many of the competitors. Hope they bring the race back again next year. This pic is of my great friend Jill and I after the race - 2 super mom's!

The next weekend we departed for Kelowna (yes, again), but this time we had my parents with us. We spent the weekend with Tess and Loic (thank you guys again, you rock!) and then hopped on a houseboat in the schuswap for 4 days with our friends Chris and Jaime. It was super relaxing and the weather was spectacular! We really, really enjoyed our time in B.C. again and are still considering moving there someday, although I think we will absolutely need to move as a 'foursome' since we seem to be joined at the hip these days! This pic is of Chephren swimming in the lake -it was cold, but not too cold for my little fish!

The next weekend we were with friends in Banff (I told you - crazy summer!). We hooked up for a day of rock climbing in Heart Creek and then camped at Tunnel Mountain and then at Mosquito creek the following night. We spent Sunday on Lake Minnewanka which I had never even seen before so that was kind of neat. All in all, we had an enjoyable camping experience and as usual, Chephren was a camping all-star. This pic is of Trent and Chephren on the Lake Minnewanka boat tour - which we did for free thanks to Amanda's friend Kristina - score!

Now comes for the not-so-positive reason why this blog has sat vacant for so long. At the end of June, I was diagnosed with Post-Partum Depression. I wavered on whether or not I was going to write about it at all on my blog, but I feel that it is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. I am being treated for it now and things are going much, much better. Needless to say, it forced us to re-evaluate our summer plans and we decided to try and slow things down a bit.

Now, even with PPD, you should know that 'slowing things down a bit' might not mean the samething to me as it might to other people. I swear that I am incapable of being idle! So, my parents, Trent, Chephren and I decided to get serious about our lot in Nordegg. We have spent the past three weekends there and it has been awesome. The boys have worked so hard that they managed to clear us a road and a building site! Plus, my mom took amazing care of Chephren whilst cooking us delicious meals so it was pretty much the best holiday ever for me. Just what I needed. Nordegg is so good for the soul - like plugging in your blackberry charger as my mom always says. One thing that did happen while we were there was a crazy summer storm. We woke up in the morning to find that a tree had fallen on Trent's truck (not so great as it is a work truck) and that literally THOUSANDS of trees were down in the subdivision. What a mess. People in the campground were actually hurt by trees falling on them. It was not a good scene at all. Luckily, no one was killed. On a happier note, this pic is of Chephren having a 'camping bath' - you can tell how much he loves it!

This weekend we are actually staying home, but it is our only free weekend until OCTOBER! (See? INCAPABLE of slowing down). What is on the agenda? Friends from Calgary are coming up next week (YAY!), then we are at a friend's lakelot (YAY!), then we are in Palm Springs for a week (YAY!), then we have a wedding, and then we are back in Nordegg to stump the lot (YAY!)

There, now you have the full Hasse story. Oh, I almost forgot, Chephren is 9 and a half months old now. He is crawling on his knees (Finally! He pulled that belly of his around for months!) and pulling himself up to standing on everything. He is just as happy as ever... most of the time. He still has his super hot temper and has taken to throwing himself around when he is mad. It is a bit ridiculous! I think he must get that from Trent (is anyone buying that?) He has 8 teeth now (yes, 8), and is an eating machine. He still loves to be outside, loves to 'jump' and loves music and books. We adore him more with each passing day.

Signing out for now... who knows when I will have time to update again! Hope all is well out there with all of you :)

Love, The Hasses

Maren's 30th Bday

Well, as if it wasn't enough that Trent surprised me with our stay at the Burrowing Owl a few weeks ago, he also took me stay at the Overlander Lodge this weekend. What an absolute treat. This time, we were even sans Baldie - which means that we got some actual alone time.

We had a bit of a late start to the day on Saturday due to the crappy forecast in Jasper. We had been hoping/planning on scrambing Roche a Perdrix, however conditions are still crappy for scrambling in the rockies. We were also hoping to ride Trent's new bike down to Jasper however the cold temps scared us off. When exactly is summer supposed to arrive??? This has been a brutal spring. Just brutal.

So, instead, we hiked the Sulfur Skyline trail and followed it up with a soak in the Miette hot springs. The cold temps were actually just right for that kind of activity. The hike was enjoyable, but again, there was an unbelievable amount of snow on certain parts of the trail. Luckily, we were still able to 'summit' the ridge. We also saw 2 bears in the area, one with 3 baby cubs. They are by far the smallest cubs I have ever seen. So adorable. Thankfully we were in the car for both sightings.

Then, ahhhhh... the Overlander. We have been there a few times before and it is always just an awesome experience. We stayed in a mountain view room this time and enjoyed a delicious bottle of red wine on our patio before dinner. The meals there are always fantastic also. I had an amazing halibut and shrimp dish. I am not exaggerating about how great this place is... you should go... really.

Sunday was spent having lunch with my folks, reuniting with my adorable son (who changed overnight, I swear!) and having dinner with my great friend Catherine. All in all, it was a lovely weekend. I find birthdays to be not only a time to spend with friends and family, but also a time for personal reflection. Thirty is a big one for me. I have always held '30' as the marker for actual adulthood (!) Wait, does this mean that I have to grow up? No, of course not... but I do think that my next 30 years will be significantly different (and even better) than my first 30. I am hoping it will be a time for me to continue to grow as a person and to begin to take even better care of myself than I do already. One thing that I do know is that I would like to be around for a long while yet, especially now that I have a son. It is going to be so rewarding to watch him grow up. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people. I have no doubts that the love from my friends and family will carry me through the next 30 years. Cheers!!! Here is to growing old graciously!