Gladiolas

I love love LOVE August.   

For this reason alone:

Waterton in three days

A while back I entered a little photo contest that (I swear) few people must know about;)    I was lucky enough to win in a couple of categories, and one of the prizes was a two night stay in Waterton.    

This past week we cashed in on that prize and spent a few days there doing all the things we love about Waterton.    

First up, as soon as we arrived, I made the kids pose for some Family Photos.   

And-They LOVED it!!!  

Now, when I say "they loved it" I actually mean they whined and cried and complained the entire time, carrying on as if it was the biggest injustice ever to have to have a family photo taken.    In all fairness to them, we did just recently snap some family photos, and we will likely in the future take more family photos, so it's not like I have a shortage of family photos or anything.    I may have a slight addiction to taking family photos that borderlines compulsion, which I suspect stems from a childhood of no photos and precious few documented memories.   (I may need counselling.) 

  Still, It had been a few weeks since our last picture, so what was the big deal?

We took 11 shots of this exact photo just trying to get one where Sam was actually smiling.   And the more determined he was to not smile- the more determined I became to keep the pictures coming. 

Unfortunately, just when the kids thought it was over, after we'd gotten back in the van and started heading towards the hotel, I saw a great little building with an awesome cedar shake wall and instantly liked that backdrop better.   (What?   I changed my mind, so sue me!)

All heck broke lose then as the kids flat out refused to cooperate.   To make a short story even longer I'll just add that we all sulked, tears were shed, I lamented the fact that no one was wearing the clothes I'd laid out for them, and I bribed our kids with money to fake a smile.   

And this is the picture that resulted!

Here we are:  One big happy family, about to enjoy our holiday together. 

  

Despite it all, we do look relatively happy so it's all good. 

 But let the record show, that on this day, and at this moment, if I'd been given the choice to a) keep taking my families photos or b) light myself on fire - I would have chosen the latter.    

And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.  

So now that I've spent that much time blabbing about the gong show that was the first 20 minutes of our trip- let me get on to the good part!

The rest was FABULOUS!

We checked into the lodge around four and immediately headed out to hike Bears Hump.  The kids did incredibly well and John and I were impressed with Nate's determination to walk the entire time without any assistance.    His little legs struggled with each high step, but he did it!   

(I know, another family photo.  I need to be stopped)

One morning, we also hiked in to Crandell lake because the kids wanted to do some fishing there.  Because Cameron Road is closed, we had to hike in from behind and it ended up being an adventurous hike for sure.   Turns out, they'd been having bear problems in the area and had actually banned all campers who were using anything less then hard walled trailers.     There was an unusual amount of warning signs along the trail cautioning us that there was a "bear in the area."  John and I kinda laughed at the obviousness of the signage and continued on the path.    

Within minutes, we were stopped by this black bear and her cub.    We backed our kids up carefully and expected the bear to continue on her way.    But instead she continued to walk towards us.    So....we backed up until she was outta sight.    And....she continued to walk towards us!   

I'll admit, I found her aggressiveness (well her lack of fear of us) to be somewhat unnerving, but I couldn't help but take advantage of this photo op:

John eventually did scare the bear and her cub away (he's so brave;) but by then the rest of us were already back at the van, shaking in our hiking boots.   The kids and I wanted to be done with hiking for the day, but John told us to stop being wusses and continue on.  John's determination to get to the lake could be compared to my determination to take a family photo.   

There was nothing to do but continue on.

It was another great hike and the kids were definitely tired after.  For the rest of the stay we spent our time playing in the splash park, swimming at the pool, walking around the town site and fishing below Cameron Falls.    Sam LOVES fishing below the falls!

I absolutely LOVE being in Waterton at night.   It has a whole different feel at night, once half the people have gone home, and the other half start winding down.  

I tried to steal away each evening just so I could enjoy the ambiance a bit.    

On nights like this I like to sit outside the theatre and listen to the live entertainment, or walk along the shore and watch the shadowy figures of others still playing in the water.   My favorite thing I've done though is  sit along the docks staring off towards the Prince Of Whales Hotel.   It's pretty dreamy.    

Speaking of dreamy.   This BABY is pretty dreamy;)

Ben, Marilyn and Blythe came down to Waterton for one night as well and we sure enjoyed their company!  Blythe is the most content and pleasant baby, and I bet her parents will never have to pay her to cooperate for a family photo.        

It was a great few days.    The kids swam, played at Pass Creek and flew kites together before we reluctantly called it quits and headed for home.   

It was a perfect end to Fabulous Summer!

Good bye Big Red

Back in July the AC on our van went.    No biggie, I know.  

Three days later- our hot water system sprung a leak.    It leaked for two weeks, (while we were on holidays and while we had company after) forcing us to function for the most part with cold water only.   

Four days after that was fixed - the AC on our van broke.   AGAIN!!!!   

Honestly, I swear I've spent my summer either playing with family or sitting in the lobby of our favorite Mechanics shop.    (Which isn't really a bad way to spend a summer if you ask me, because as I waited I was able to watch Dr.Oz;)

Just as John and I got everything fixed (and then fixed again) and thought we were done with repairs - 

"Big Red" started to make an awful, sickening noise, and I knew instantly that this wasn't going to end well.    We took it into our mechanic (who didn't seem at all surprised to see us again;) and within no time at all it was determined that there was nothing anyone could do.  

Big Red was dying.

The mechanic kept saying something about an oil pump breaking down, spewing oil all over, limiting oil pressure and wrecking the engine in the process?   Does this make sense to anyone, because it didn't really to me?   

What I did know was that we had a few precious miles left on the thing, but it's time was uncertain.   So we drove the poor thing out to "Coopers" so that Big Red could join the likes of other junkyard vehicles who had "lived a good life."

(I had to follow John closely behind just in case he didn't make it.)

I actually think John was kinda sad to see it go.   

I mean, don't get me wrong, I was sad to see it go too.  
This truck was my Dad's, and believe you me, he put a LOT of money into it:)!  haha
There's a lot of good memories with this truck:   My Dad driving driving it around Calgary... all the little cousins playing in the back...and all the days John would come whipping into the cul de sac at crazy speeds as if it was really a sleek camaro he was driving.
Oh and my personal favorite memory....that time John drove home in reverse because the e-break wouldn't disengage.

 ....sigh.  Yup...it's been a good good truck.

I think John and I were both about to burst in to tears we were so sad to say good bye.


But then the man who owns the junk yard gave us a cheque for $100 and we were like, "HELLO!"
We only bought this thing for $1!    Booyah.
(cue the victory dance!!)

Here's to making 100% profit!!!

AND....while cleaning out the truck, we found this handy dandy fanny pack.

I'm just sayin, it kinda helps to soften the blow!

   

Good bye "Big Red."   Goodbye!

Road trip!

A few months ago, my siblings and I decided that it was time to schedule a little reunion, and this time around we wanted to do something a little bit different.    So...we looked around, considered our options, and (thanks to a great find of my Crystal's) we finally found a great little home that we all could vacation in together. 

So, last Thursday, John and I loaded the van to the roof with enough bedding, water supplies, food, and luggage to see us through a year.  And then we packed the kids in.   As you can tell, they were so excited!

"ROADTRIP!!!"  

We began our journey around 5:30 that evening, and approximately 13.5 minutes later we arrived at the vacation home.   A beautiful 5 bedroom cabin perched happily overlooking the St.Mary River not too far from Magrath.   ;)    

Everyone arrived at staggered times that first day, but it didn't take long for us to start doing what our family does best.  Eating...and playing!

The kids LOVED going down to the river and wading in the water, playing in the sand, slinging mud, and even fishing.    I myself actually never made it down there.    I'd discovered a book on one of the shelves called "I am Hutterite" and I'm afraid reading that just seemed to take up all my time.   tsk tsk

On Friday the Dad's and a couple of the nephews drove a few miles down the road and did some shotgun shooting.    My Father in Law met up with them for that, and apparently Max is quite the eagle eye, even at 70!!!

The kids played so well together, and I love that we never really have to referee them or worry much about them.    The older kids are great examples, and the younger kids make us all laugh.   

 I love this group so much!

It's been a whirlwind of a summer, and it seems as though we have spent the past couple of months going from one party to another!   John and I totalled up how many kids there are in both of our families combined and the total number is 41!  (25 kids on John's side and 16 on mine)     

Over the past three and a half months we have been able to see and play with 37 of them!!!   

It's  kinda felt like one big prolonged family reunion!

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family!!!!

Sam's Birthday

This past Wednesday, Sam celebrated his 8th birthday!   

Eight!!!   

It's crazy to think that eight years ago I had a 2 year old and a little newborn baby.     When Sam was two weeks old, we moved from Edmonton to Calgary so John could get his teaching degree.   Every day John would go to class,  I would put Abby in the stroller, strap Sam to my tummy and walk the two blocks up to Market Mall.  I liked to spend my time there letting Abby play in the kids place while I cuddled with Sam.   Then we'd get frozen yogurt, and I'd spend some of John's student loan on clothes before calling it a day and heading home.    

Why am I sharing all this?   

Well...because that was Eight YEARS ago, that's why!!  

And would you believe that back then - I thought I was sooo busy.    

(oy.  perspective eh?)  

Sam is truly a special little guy, and has been such a blessing in our home.  No one else can make me cry, yell, or laugh as much as this kid, and I love him for it!

We had Jewel and Kendall and their kids over for dinner on his birthday.  He'd requested a supper of pancakes, bacon, hash browns and Dad's homemade orange Julius.   Instead of birthday cake, we had home made sugar donuts.   (Perhaps you can imagine how some of us felt by the end of the night?)  

(We got a kick out of this donut that came out in the shape of an 8.   Coincidence?   I think not!

The highlight for Sam was opening presents.    

John and I flaked out and gave him money and his first set of scriptures.   When he first opened the scriptures he excitedly proclaimed, "Yes!!!   Now I can read scriptures with my DAD!"  

I suppose that was kinda sweet but all I could think about was how I was going to have to start reading my scriptures a little more (or at least in front of Sam more often).  

I don't want John to get all the glory every time, you know?

Oh and next to the scriptures he LOVED this box of pop its that he got from his cousins.   We could barely make out what he was screaming, he was so excited, but it had something to do with "finally being able to blow everything up."

Not to be forgotten, Nate reminded us of the injustice of having to watch somebody else celebrate a birthday.    He couldn't believe those gifts weren't for him, and got more and more upset with every one opened.    I really shouldn't laugh at him, but I just love how narcissistic little three year olds can be.    

My entire family got together this week for a two day reunion, so we decided to tag Sam's baptism on to the end of it.     We were so grateful for all of our family who helped out with the program, and all those who helped Sam feel so special that day.    

John was the only Bishopric member around this weekend, so he ended up having to conduct as well.   

John baptized Sam, and as per Sam's request, Grandpa Max confirmed him.    

Sam took this day very seriously, and I was so proud of the thought and consideration he put into it.   He was certainly a proud little guy!!    

Love him!!

Fishing at lake Josephine

This past week has been crazy. As in CRAzy!  

 Whoever said Summers were full of lazy days anyways?  

I'd like to go on record saying that Summers are not relaxing, and while I'm at it I'm just going to go out on a limb and also say that Sunday is actually not a day of rest either. 

  So there.    You heard it here first.  

I will say this though, we've gotten awfully good at pulling a fun little outing outta nowhere, and to our credit, we're getting a little bit better at dropping things (to do lists etc) and making time for family.  

Last Saturday was just such a time.

We made an impulsive decision to load up supper, pick up Grandpa and head down to Glacier again, this time to do a bit of fishing.

Supper was alright, (thanks to the amazing wonder box method) we had a fresh garden soup.  Unfortunately, due to the fact that I never salt our food...it could have been better;)    It's a good thing we were eating outside, as that always helps make food taste yummier.  

After the mediocre meal though, we took a little hike around Swift current lake, past the boat dock, and up another short trail to Lake Josephine.

I'd say it took us about 20 minutes tops to walk the two trails.   

And this is where we ended up!

Such a beautiful lake, and we were the only ones up here too.

We walked around to the rocky side of the shore (because clearly we were feeling dangerous) and all found our own spot to fish.  

Nate sat and watched, dipped his toes in the water, and cried to "go back to the van" a large chunk of the time.  (But that's just because that's where the ipad was;)   We made him just suffer on the rocks though.   As parents we feel that it is important to occasionally separate yourself from technology a bit and connect with nature.    

Here is Nate - connecting with Nature;)

Abby was the first to catch something.   (From the looks of this, she was about to eat it raw.  haha)

Then me!   I was super proud to have caught a fish when John never did;)  John says we weren't competing, but that's not true.   We were.      

It might look like I'm squeezing that poor fish to death, but that's not true either.

Jess was super excited to catch a fish.    Again, it was a little teeny one, but still!   

It turned out being a very adventurous night on the lake.    In total we caught 6 or 7 fish (everyone got lots of bites except for Sam), Grandpa got a bit wet (the rocks were definitely hard to navigate.  A few minutes later then Nate and Abby fell in the lake!   And then in an angry act of revenge Abby got PUSHED into the lake.    Then I got mad and said we were done for the night!  

Of course, on our walk back down to the van we had to stop and fish from the dock at swift current lake too;)   I gave in, despite the quickly setting sun, because I didn't want them to remember that I'd gotten mad at them.    

By the time we left, most everybody had had a fun and productive time fishing.   

Every body but Sam.

He did not manage to get a single bite that night, and was quite distraught about that.    I suppose it must have been hard to see everyone else catching fish and not catch one yourself.   (sigh...that doesn't happen to me very often though, so it's hard to relate;)   kidding.

As we walked along the trail back to the parking lot, I tried to console Sam and assure him that he really is a good fisher.    He wasn't about to be consoled anytime soon, in fact the harder I tried to cheer him up, the more defiant and determined he was to stay upset!   haha.  

 Take these two conversations for example:

Mom:  Sam, you realize that you do have the power to change your attitude right now, right?

Sam: Yeah. I know that.  But I don't have the power to catch a fish!  

Sam: This is the worst day ever!

Mom:  Sam, there is more to fishing then catching a fish.

Sam:  Like having fun?

Mom:  Yes, exactly.  Like having fun.

Sam: Well great! I'm not catching any fish, AND I'm not even having any fun.

I seriously love that kid, and I loved the whole night.

Carnival Party (Hardy Style)

John's Aunt and Uncle, who happen to also be my Brother in Law's parents, (got that?  understand the connection?) organized a family carnival during their family reunion a couple of weeks back and invited us to join the fun.    (I say it was a carnival for their immediate family, but really, it was a carnival that their immediate family put on for all of the extended family.)   John's Grandma was there, Aunts and Uncles that he hadn't seen in a long while were there, and Hardys I had never even met before were there.  

 And it was AWESOME! 

The perimeter of their yard was full of fun carnival style games.   The kids were given a handful of tickets and had every opportunity to play each and every game!   Nate spent most of his time at the cake walk, often playing alone.  I'm not sure why he liked that booth so much?  Perhaps it was because Stacey, (John's cousin in law, or our Brother -in -laws Sister-in -law, depending on how you look at it) was so nice to him.   All I know, is he kept playing, and he wasn't playing for the cake!  

 (Oh boy, I ate a lot of his winning cupcakes that afternoon;)

Grandpa Hardy was operating the pinball booth at the carnival, and Sam surprised us all by getting top score!   Woohoo right?    

Like I said, all of these booths were set up and operated by Clark and Deanna's immediate family.

They also had the cutest, most delicious array of teeny tiny treats to enjoy for a ticket each!

Little miniature hot dogs, mini burgers, veggie/fruit cups, mini cookies, mini pizzas, mini EVERYTHING!   

Is it just me, or does food just taste yummier when it is mini?

This zip line that they'd set up was a huge hit!   It spanned the depth of their yard, and had my kids standing in line constantly wanting another turn.   (Some of my kids didn't necessarily wait for their turn too often.  We'll work on that:)

It was a great afternoon, and a wonderful reminder to me of how important it is to stay acquainted with our extended family.   We can get so busy that years go by without doing much to stay connected.
 I am particularly bad at staying connected (tsk tsk) so I was so grateful for this chance for my kids to get to know this awesome family more:)

It was the perfect way to spend a summer day!!

Sick things that Slither

Yup.

Another post about snakes.

There is not much I want to say about these photos except that they document yet another "snake hunt."

Apparently John and the kids have discovered a major hide out, and they find snakes EVERY.TIME!  

Which is AWESOME! (sarcasm intended)

Then they come home and taunt me, and make fun of me for not liking snakes.    Haven't they ever heard that it's not nice to make fun of someone because of their beliefs?   ;) 

This has sssssseriously got to sssssssstop!

Baring Falls!

A year or so ago my chiropractor told me about a great (very kid friendly) hike in Glacier that ended at a beautiful waterfall.    I went home that day and vowed to John that we would do that hike during the summer.    Like most things put on my "to do list" this nagged at me all summer long.  

Finally, we were able to hike the trail to baring falls this past week, and it was indeed super kid friendly.   It's a good thing too, because the hike started out with Sam saying:  "This is boring.  Why did we always even have to do stuff like this?"   haha   Luckily, we'd brought along one of our neighbor kids and she helped keep my own four a little more motivated;)

This trail begins just opposite of Sunrift gorge.   We love stopping at the gorge, and never even realized this little gem of a hike existed!   It's a walk that is lined with berries.   Saskatoon berries...thimble berries...raspberries....    

Part of me was wishing I'd brought a pail along!  (I'm not sure if berry picking in a natural park is allowed?  Don't tell, but ...we ate ALOT of them;)!

It is one of the most dense and lush hikes we've ever taken the kids on.    A few steps into the trail and we couldn't even hear the nearby traffic anymore.

I tried my best to point out all the wildflowers I've learned to recognize this year (I'm a little bit proud of the fact that I now know what pearly everlasting is ok!) but the kids were completely disinterested.  They were all engaged in some imaginary game that involved a lot of texting, a concert, and of course a journey through the woods.   

Baring Falls!

I took some time to try and play around with the shutter speed, because I like the effect on the water.   Clearly though, a tripod would have been helpful, and would have perhaps prevented the blurriness in the rest of the photo?

meh...I had 5 kids in tow.   They weren't about to stand around and wait for me to set up a tripod;)

After the hike to baring falls, we headed over to Many Glacier and fished in front of the hotel.  

We'd already discovered and proven the week before that this is not a very ideal place to fish, but old habits die hard I suppose.   Luckily for some of us - it isn't about whether we catch anything or not;)

We headed for home much later then planned and empty handed nonetheless, but so grateful for a fun family filled day!    

I'm sure loving Glacier!!!