Student Council Retreat

For the past year, Abby has been serving on her school Student Council, which has been a great opportunity for her.  Last weekend, the School sent 12 Student Council members on a two-night retreat, and I got to be one of the accompanying chaperones.   

We spent the weekend staying in a hostel and exploring the Kananaskis, an area in 

Alberta that I had not explored before.  It was so much fun! 

The trip involved a lot of food (orange french toast, wings, pasta night - all at sit down restaurants) soaking in the hot springs, exploring the Banff Hotel, hiking,  watching the newly released Aladdin in the Banff Theatre, and late nights playing every ridiculous game those kids could conjure up!  

I owned the role of "Werewolf" like a boss, pathetically competed (and lost all sense of pride) in a sing-off, and scared the living daylights out of all 12 students with the best late night prank ever.  

Mr. Sloan took the group up to "The Vault" which was a fascinating cave created back during Cold War time, with the intention of using it for a place to store Top Secret Government Documents.   It was fun to walk to the end of it and explore the different "rooms."

I particularly LOVED getting to just be with Abby.  

She is fun.  She is so good.  And she is a genuine friend to me.   I'll happily accompany a handful of students and stay up later than any human should - for a chance to get to be with her!

The Kananaskis is definitely an area we will be visiting again!

Spring Drive

Sometimes (as in like, once in a blue moon) Jessica and I wake up super early and go on a morning drive...

The world is particularly beautiful when it is just waking up for the day!

Native Honor Night

I love my job.  

It isn't easy.  It isn't always fun.  There have been more challenges arise this year for me than I ever thought possible.   BUT... I do love the students that I work with, and because of that, I love my job.

Earlier in May, the school held it's annual Native Honor Night, a special evening dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of our graduating First Nation students.  It is a formal evening (many of these students value this event over the actual grad ceremony in June) that includes dinner, a program, traditional dancing, and gifts for each grad.    This year there are 27 of them from our school, and the hope is that every single one of them will graduate.   

  Oh, I pray that they will!   

I am proud of these kids.  Many of these students are the first ones in their family to graduate, and every one of them is overcoming substantial difficulty to do so.    To me, they are grit and determination personified, and they don't even realize it.  

I am not sure what this next year has in store for me and my work.  Things feel a little unsteady right now.  I hope I will be able to keep working with this group that I love so much.  

Choir and Mountain Play

Last month our local Girls Choir held a 30-year anniversary event in which choir alumni were invited to participate in a joint concert with the current choir.  John's sister Sarah was one of the original members of this choir, and Abby was a part of it a couple of weeks back, so it was fun to get to watch both of them perform.  

It was also fun to have Sarah, Ed, and Malachi with us for a few days.

They always introduce us to new experiences and fun!

This visit, they brought along their bikes and it was SO fun to enjoy Waterton with wheels!

Sarah had wanted to experience riding along the Red Rock Parkway while vehicular traffic was prohibited.  She commented a few times that there was something about being on that road without anybody else that was exciting - and she was right!

The kids loved it.  Even Nate kept up for most of the way, only having to turn back a few minutes before the endpoint.   It was neat to see where the Kenow Wildfire reached, and to see how the land has recovered.  It was also cool to travel this road outside of a car.  You notice things in a different way.   The wildflowers were just starting to come up, with patches of shooting stars blanketing the ground.   I'm pretty sure shooting stars are some of my favorite flowers.  

The dainty little things survive the harsh mountain climate so well.

At one point Nate grew too tired to keep going.  I knew that we were probably within minutes of our destination but he was so so tired and I was tired too wanted this to remain a good experience for him, so he and I turned back.   We stopped at the top of one particular hill, parked our bikes and just sat, right there in the middle of the road.   Not another human being in sight!

Dreeeaammmy!!!!!

After that fun ride, we ate pizza and enjoyed Beaver tails down by the lake before heading home.  

It was a perfectly beautiful evening, one that made me feel grateful for calm moments and company that helps us see the world a little bit differently, even if just for a moment.

  

Mother's Day

I feel so very blessed to have these people in my life. 

 Oh, how I love them!

Moments before the sun goes down...

Earlier in May my brother texted us and let us know he would be at the farm the next day.  He said something about "heather was making chili" which pretty much sealed the deal for us.  I'm pretty sure no distance is too far for a bowl of Heather's chili. For reals;)

All of my siblings and the cousins converged for just a few hours that evening, but as always, it was a perfectly good time.  The kids talked, played outside until the sun went down, and we all visited.  When we had filled up on chili, Tim Tams, Hot Chocolate and Krsispy Creme donuts - we crawled into our vehicles and made the trip home...

...each one of us looking forward to next time.