45 Halloweens and 11 more!

Unlike previous years when I have gone all out planning costumes for my kids, I really left Halloween up to them this year.  (Back to school burnout is real, folks;). As a result, we all found ourselves scrambling for ideas days before the big day.

Abby and her friends all went as "Among Us" characters.  Even though I had no clue what she was, every other teenager in town seemed to.  (Apparently, it is a good thing to be "wicked sus?")  

Nate's costume made me wicked angry.  For months he has been planning to be Gandalf.  I'd been convinced that I'd ordered a pricy little costume last year, but could find it, so with a week or two before Halloween, I got online and ordered it.  ($96 for this kid to be his favorite wizard!). And no surprise, the day this costume arrived in the mail...I found the other one I'd ordered. 

Nothing like spending $200 on a kid, for one day. 

 He is cute, but to this day I still get mad when I think about it.  

Sam had to wait to find out what his friends were being before he could decide on his own costume.   In the end, they all agreed to go as skaters.  Everything Sam used for his costume were things he actually wears on a normal day.  Hmmmmm......

Jessica (and all of her friends went as rappers.  I did manage to find this swanky metallic jacket that I hope to see her wear again one day, but probably never will.  I'm not entirely sure why half my kids have chosen to be thugs this year.  Perhaps the covid restrictions of late have driven them to this point of rebellion?

Or perhaps there is a more genetic explanation for their Halloween expressions.  

Heaven knows they didn't inherit their mean streaks from me though;)

My last-minute costume was inspired by a fellow EA who was in Lethbridge the day before Halloween and saw all the makings for a few of us to go as the "Three Blind Mice."  It's such an overdone idea, but you guys, when a friend tells you she will get you a costume, you accept.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  

One of the unsuspected surprises of covid was that volleyball tournaments were not permitted this year, which meant that for the first time in like FOREVER John was home with us on his birthday.  Unfortunately, the whole back to school burnout was a factor, so we didn't celebrate this man in the biggest way possible, but we did manage to throw down a carrot cake in the shape of a ghost.  

I'm so grateful I married a man with low expectations;)

With Nate and Jess trick or treating with friends, and Sam and Abby at parties, it was a quiet evening for John and I. We waited anxiously for our doorbell to ring, eager to hand out candy to other people's children,  I'll admit there was a pang of longing for former, simpler days when our kids still wanted to be with us. Sigh....

It was a nice evening and I was grateful to get to celebrate the fact that John has lived through 45 Halloweens so far!  

 Because Nate's 11th birthday fell on a Sunday this year we made sure to celebrate it all weekend long.  (Nate had felt quite anxious that the sabbath might not make for a fun enough day for a birthday.)

I hope we did not disappoint!

 

All the things we're grateful for. (Lettuce...and more!)

If I had to pick a favorite holiday, I just might say it is Thanksgiving.

That could be because it marks the first real break in a school year, or maybe it is because we justifiably get to gorge ourselves with an insane amount of food, or perhaps it is because this season brings some of the loveliest sights and colors if the yeaar.

Whatever the reason, I love it!

The kids and I spent two nights at my sister in law (Rachel's) house.   She fed us an AMAZING turkey dinner, the kids played with their cousins, we explored the mall and had fun chats that last until midnight.  

The  next day we woke up early and left Rachel's to attend church in my brother's ward as my niece was speaking.  She is leaving soon for a 18 month mission.  We are so proud of the young woman that she is becoming and can't wait to hear updates from her throughout this adventure. 

We got home on Sunday evening and were able to enjoy Thanksgiving day with John and Max. 

We took a drive along the Chief Mountain Highway where we spotted a few rogure snowflakes, but precious little else.  

We got home in time to throw together a Turkey dinner consisting of turkey, stuffing, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, carmalized onion and feta beets, salad and of course - pumpkin pie!  We've had pumpkin pie every day for about a week and no one is sick of it yet.  

We added our final submissions to the gratitude pumpkin.  A few things of note as I reviewed our lists of things we are grateful for:

*Nate wrote his points in Elvish.  (Perhaps a sign that it is time to lay off Lord of the Rings?;)

* Sam set out to prove to me just how pointless he thought this activity was (hence his submissions of Fortnite...COVID...John Mayer...and lettuce.  I mean, how did LETTUCE make the list?!)

*John didn't initially care to add anything to the pumpkin, but then I got after him and accused him of being a "noncompliant."  He acted much more grateful after that.

* My girls played along beautifully adding some of the sweetest comments ever, making the whole activity so completely and utterly worth it.  (Thank goodness for daughters, you know?;)

We spent the remainder of the evening watching comedy and wishing we had more pumpkin pie. 

I sure feel blessed to have the family that I do and to live the life I get to live!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Family Pics - That time Sam had enough

Sam has grown tired of my constant need for family photos. 

I don't entirely understand what the big deal is, but he asks a lot of "whys" whenever I announce it is picture day.  

Why do I have to be in it?

Why do we have to go somewhere else to take it?

Why can't we just take it in our backyard?

Why do I have to wear something dumb?

Why do we have to do this every two months?

So many questions!

I'll be the first to admit, I am obsessed with taking family photos.  It isn't a vanity thing.  I wouldn't say any of us are particularly photogenic (well except John) and none of us enjoys having our picture taken. 

I just feel a deep desire to document my families life in photos, that's all. 

Actually, there is probably some deep-rooted reason that stems from the fact that I grew up without a Mom and have only ONE complete family photo from my childhood.

That might be why, but I don't want to burden Sam with that, so instead, I do my best to convince him that "this time around it will be more fun."

It's always a lie, and he and I both know it, but still, he comes.

This past weekend, while our family was still basking in the peaceful, sorta spiritual glow from General Conference, we whisked out to Waterton for one final attempt at a family photo and we were all hoping that perhaps, this time, we'd capture a shot that I would be happy with.  

Things weren't looking good, I'm not going to lie.  The girls were cooperative and John was willing (he knew better than to complain) but my boys...oh, my boys.  After one shot, they just weren't having it anymore.  Suddenly though, in a strange and unexpected turn of events ..SAM grabbed the camera, told me to go sit down, and took the whole matter into his own hands. 

He adjusted the camera, changed lenses, directed family members, set timers, and hit click before joining us in the shots, and he did it all while being incredibly entertaining.

What the what?  Did he forget that family photos are not supposed to be fun?

Look at him, going and making this an enjoyable experience for everyone! ;)

I feel satisfied.

And grateful.

And I wonder if he'd let us do this again sometime;)

 

Cameron Lake - Hello, my friend!

The road to Cameron Lake opened up last week for the first time in THREE years!  It is the last road in the park to open since the Kenow wildfire in 2017 ravaged the park and we were so excited to finally get to drive that beautiful road again.

We picked a beautiful day to go too, as the fall colors were all at a peak.  

We stopped along the way, taking pictures of some of my favorite spots!

             The lake was as beautiful as ever and you could see exactly where the firemen had focused their preventative measures, leaving a swath of healthy treeline right around the lake.  

This fall has given us some beautiful days and being up here felt like being reunited with an old friend.

A day at the Movies

My niece Ella works at a movie theatre and so graciously arranged a day in September when my whole family could gather to watch Mulan.  We had the whole theatre to ourselves!

How cool is that? 

             Popcorn, pop, candy, and pizza after the show. 

We could sit anywhere we wanted.  Talk as loud as we wanted and laugh, cheer, cry as loud as we wanted.

I mean, we didn't do those things, but just knowing that we could have made the experience of going to the movies that much more enjoyable. 

We were so spoiled and truly enjoyed the day with them all.

  

 (Photo taken by my brother, Chad)

I sure love this group and the fact that we live close enough to each other to enjoy adventures like this together!

Elk Rut - Annual Family Visit

Every year we look forward to watching the Elk who gather along the Blackiston fan in Waterton.  To me, Elk rutting season means hot chocolate, toques, binoculars, cameras, and family all happily squished in a vehicle as we listen to the bugling and watch as the bulls aggressively try to manage their herds.  

This year, we've only managed to get out there once so far to watch the rutting and for some reason, only Abby and Jess wanted to join John and I.  What gives?  Is this not our whole families favorite thing to do in the fall?  What is happening?

In my opinion, if you are too busy to watch the Elk rutting, you are quite frankly, just too busy.

September Days

Despite the return to school, and sports and schedules, we did our very best to enjoy our favorite summer things, just the same!

John tried to capitalize on every weekend/evening without volleyball to take the boat and paddleboards out for a "spin."  We rigged up a way to pull the paddleboards behind us to the furthest end of Payne lake, where John could fish, while Jess and I drifted away with our toes in the water.  

Our school division is one of the only divisions in the province allowing team sports to be played. It doesn't matter that there is only one other school for Sam's team to play against, he and Jess have spent a few days trying to work out the kinks in their serves and spikes!  

Jessica and I have been trying our best to go on as many drives as possible.  On one particular day, the forecast was calling for snow at the higher elevations, which had us feeling so excited.  I swear, we could smell it in the air.  We tried driving the Chief Mountain Highway because that is our favorite place to enjoy the first snowfall of the year but, no such luck. We were a couple of hours too early;)

Oh, how we love this time of year!

    

 Nate, Jess, John, and I found a new spot along Emerald Bay that I can't wait to enjoy more next summer!  It's got a rocky beach, a spot for our battle boards and trees for our hammocks for those of us who would rather just hang around and stare up at the sky.  

Life is just better with a hammock!

Sam and Nate have been wanting a dartboard for a long time now.  I had every intention of saving that idea for a future Christmas gift but darn them and their persistence!  

Turns out, our whole family has enjoyed having this around.  We hold tournaments some evenings before watching M*A*S*H or The Cosby Show, and more than once this board has provided the means for settling a dispute or making some of the important decisions in life.  

Question: "Mom, would you let me skip class today?"  

Answer: "Thros a bullseye and I'll let ya."

So far, this has been a win-win for me as a parent.

We harvested our garden and it feels so so good to have that all done for a season.  
Nate was more than happy to dig up the stalks of corn. 

We sure are loving these beautiful fall days!

The Evolution of Home

We've changed houses more in the last 10 years then I would like to admit, but we have officially been in our own home for 1 straight year. I didn't realize how much I would enjoy changing our home without having to change our home. You know what I'm saying?

We've had to be a little bit patient at times with the changes we've wanted to make, but that only helps me appreciate this place that much more.   I figured it was time to do a recap of all the amazing things we've  John has done. 

This is what our home looked like in February 2019, just a few days after we purchased it.  

By the time we took possession of the house in June, the snow had melted leaving us with a clearer picture.  Though the interior had been updated beautifully, the yard consisted of healthy thriving weeds and spotty patches of grass.  

There was a shed in the southwest corner of the yard that we tried to turn into a picnic area, which for the better part of our first summer here, we fondly referred to as "The Swamp." 

 During those first couple of months, we spend hours outside trying to dig up all of the weeds by hand.  

We could tell that there had once been a garden on this property and we were determined to re-establish that as soon as we could.  

Once the weeds were gone, we tilled a garden and scattered grass seed.

The last thing we did last summer was to create a temporary patio/picnic area just off of our deck.  We knew this would be temporary because that happened to be the worlds most deadliest, most poorly built deck, but this makeshift patio was enough to appease me for one summer. ;)

And Finally, our last project during that first summer in the house was to close the back yard by building a fence on the west side of the house.  It doesn't match the rest of the old fence, but Jessica was thrilled to point out that with an enclosed yard, we could now technically have a dog. 

After all of that, we sat back and hunkered down, waiting comfortably for fall, winter, and spring to pass.  

After a very tumultuous early part of 2020, and despite the challenges of this past few months we've once again gotten to spend some priceless summer days making this place our own.  This year we had so many goals for the yard that I broke it all up into various phases.  

 Trees, bushes and flowers

We planted trees!  I LOVE planting trees.   

In the front yard, we planted an Amur maple (which is supposed to produce beautiful red leaves in the fall) as well as two Dogwood bushes that John dug up from a ditch and relocated for me.  (I also repainted our front door.  I like it much better!)

In the backyard, we planted to Evans Cherry trees as well as a Lilac bush.  We ditched the ugly shed (sold it to a neighbor) and tried to create a little nook that I hope will one day be a private little grove.

The Garden

It was such fun to garden again.  Oh, how I have missed this!  

We planted corn, cucumber, radishes, onions, chard, beets, lettuce, asparagus, dill, tomatoes and rhubarb.

Along the east side of the house, we dug up some of the grass planted last year and made a space for Raspberry canes.  John had helped Grandpa thin his patch, as he does every year, and felt inspired to bring some over here.  I love it!

The local Hutterites sold me 75 strawberry plants, which we wrapped around the south and west sides of the house.   

Storage Shed

I never wanted to be those people who owned so much that we needed a shed to store things in, yet here we were in July, ripping out part of the fence built last summer to make room for a storage shed.  Though it pains me to say it - we love having a cleaner garage as all of our "out of season" belongings now live!

Deck and Patio

Finally, after all that, we tackled the last, most daunting project, which happened to be the very thing the home inspector told us a year ago would need to be done.   He had mentioned that the deck was in "bad shape" but only once John began dismantling it, did we realize that it had never really been in good shape.  We were shocked to find that the stairs had been attached only with two screws, and the beam that connected the floor of the deck to the two outer posts had never even been secured to anything at all. The entire deck floor rested on a large beam that freely sat atop two posts.    

It was definitely time for a change.  

John worked for hours and hours and days and days on this deck.  None of us could really help him, or so he said, but we sure looked on in awe.  

In just over a week he'd built a beautiful new deck AND ...

...a patio!  

(Which included a windbreak so we could actually enjoy our evenings outside without blowing away.)

It all came together so nicely and I'm so grateful for all of Johns hard work!

We have decided that we should now build a front porch, and we will need a new furnace down the road, but perhaps those things can wait until next summer. 

For now, we are oh so content.