Celebrating 35

This past week I turned 35 which I am THRILLED about!   

I'm not like many who dread to admit their ages, rather I embrace each additional year with all my heart!   I'll even go one step more and say I can't WAIT to reach 50!!!  haha.    

It was a fun day on Friday and I felt so grateful for all of the loving people in my life.   

Abigail made me laugh so much when shortly after 9:00 that morning she called me from school.  When I picked up, she said, "Mom.  We have a message from you from all of Mr.Hardy's homeroom class:"    The entire class proceeded to sing/yell/scream Happy birthday to me over the phone.   (Abby swears that Uncle Kendall was in the classroom and gave her permission to do that, but I don't see how any teacher would authorize such craziness!;)     When they had finished singing, Abby then sang one more song with a few of her friends, which was a little less joyful.    It went a little bit like this:

Happy Birthday to you

It's your Birthday.

Pain and Misery to spare- 

people dying everywhere, 

but it's your birthday.

So, Happy Birthday.

It was pretty much the most morbid Birthday song I've ever heard, but it had me looking forward to my 50th more than ever!!! ;)    It was hilarious!

That evening we all went over to Jim and Jeanne Gladdings house for a Birthday picnic.  The kids had been planning this with them all week long, and though it was not a surprise like last years Birthday dinner, it was still just as fun!   Jeanne told me that they were the ones who chose the menu (fried chicken, potato salad, egg salad sandwiches and veggies), they baked the cake, prepped all of the food and dear Nate set the table.    

The kids had all gone over to the Gladdings the day before to help with some of the food prep and to bake the cake.   Naturally it included a lot of sugary stars.  How can you tell this was designed by a bunch of kids? ;)

It was fun to visit with them, as we have truly missed them since leaving the ward, and it was especially fun to watch my kids work to put on a dinner.   I was proud of them and so thankful to the Gladdings!!!

My brother Chad and sister Crystal (and their families) were also in town at this same time.  We didn't visit much on Friday due to the above plans, but we were able to make up for that on Saturday.   One of the gifts John had gotten me was a fishing rod of my own!!  (He's grown tired of me tangling up his line perhaps?;)  At any rate- I was thrilled and took it as a sign that he was willing to go fishing with me!   We could hardly wait, and so on Saturday we talked the family into going fishing out at Romeril.    It was a gorgeous afternoon!!!

Picture 16 kids (8 months-15 yrs), 3 dogs, 12 fishing rods, and 8 adults - all searching for a spot to enjoy and relax in our own chosen way.  I was impressed at how many of the younger kids wanted to fish!

Nate was so determined to catch a fish this time, it was breaking my heart!  

He's developed a pretty good cast though and we're certain that he'll catch one soon - but still, so sad to see his quivering lip at the end of the day and here him exclaim that he's "just not a fisherman."   

What a little man!

Sam, on the other hand, was celebrating big time, when just as we were getting ready to call it quits, managed to real in a catch.  His first PIKE!   It was made all the better by the fact that 15 of his cousins were cheering him on and rejoicing with him.   (Later that night I heard him talking/singing to himself in his room that "this was the best day ever - yes it was!!!)  

(That is seriously a gross looking fish.   Doesn't even look tasty if you ask me;)

It was a really fun weekend with them, full of visiting and celebrating of birthdays.   It was a wonderful reminder to me that these people that make up our families are the ones we'll know and care about through all of the eternities.   My younger sister often reminds me that it's often these eternal relationships that require the most effort and that shape and mould us the most.   I know I sometimes get so preoccupied thinking about schedules and logistics that I forget to just be in the moment and enjoy the ones I am with.   

 What matters most is what lasts the longest - and our families are forever!  

                                                                                      -Elder Ballard

When life gets busy...it helps to eat out;)

There are a few months of the year that try my patience (as in- it wears so thin it's practically transulenscent;) and I've grown convinced that May, September and December were all created to teach me a lesson!   What that lesson is, I'm still deciding, but I think it has something to do with balance.  Or maybe the lesson is about staying calm when there is no balance to be found, I'm not sure, but one of these days I'm going to get it down pat!:)

Though deep down I do love May, (the sun starts shining, the flower beds start showing signs of growth, and evenings get longer) - our schedules always fill up mega fast with all sorts of events that I have no control of.   It all tends to breed a little bit of resentment in this controlling little heart of mine.  (Oh May, how I wish I could just sit back and enjoy you a little bit more!) 

 Thankfully, my kids have embraced the spring busy-ness with full enthusiasm.   They've gracefully juggled cubs, activity days, young women's, soccer, baseball, spring league, recitals, concerts and more without even batting an eye.   (I could probably learn a thing or two from each of them!)

On one particularly busy day this past week I was rushing around, kinda fretting about what we should do for dinner when Abby nonchalantly said, "Easy.  Why don't we just eat out?"  She said it as though this is a common occurrance for our family, when I can literally count on one hand the number of times my kids have eaten dinner in a restaurant.  I think she was hoping that I was actually desperate enough to consider her suggestion and in a way - I guess I was:

I've learned that when things get so crazy and so busy with exterior demands that it starts making me cranky, the best thing to do is take a step back (and a deep breathe or two while I'm at it;) leave the cleaning and schedules behind and go where peace and calm is always waiting to be found.  

This time that place happened to be St. Mary's!

Thanks to the amazing invention called a Wonder Box, I was able to grab our half cooked lasagna, a few things from the fridge and some granola bars for dessert and oila... we were dining Al Fresco in no time!!!

Nate wouldn't join us at the picnic table, but rather found his own little table for one.  (Not that he really needed it.  He ate a carrot, drank some water and then explored this play place that was his dining room for the evening;)

After we all ate and visited, we took a little stroll that I knew would lead us to our favourite place to find fossils.   John found a large fossil that he suspects is a leg bone or a rib but it hardly seemed exciting compared to the teeth he usually discovers.  

The marmots were sticking their heads out of the ground, watching us, and it was fun to see so many little marmot babies too!  Before heading home we made sure to stop off at the playground so that the younger kids could burn off the last of their energy before bed.  

It was a perfect evening and the best way to get away from our schedules and just be together.

It reminded me of how much I really do LOVE May!!!

           I absolutely love that this is what 

      "Eating Out" looks like to my family!   

Rental Renovations

Well, the search for our new home continues!  You might have missed the memo, but we've been renting a home for the past two and a half months now while we search for our next house to buy.   I admit some people may question the intensity of our search as, like I said, it's been two months now,. (surely a couple could find a home in two months, no?)   The thing is, we are searching.  We are looking at homes whenever one pops up on the market, people approach us often and suggest we consider theirs (which we are always willing to do), and we have poured ourselves over blueprints during one atypical moment when we briefly considered building.  

I have walked through more homes in this town then I ever thought was possible, but still, nothing has really held our attention for long.   Perhaps we are just being too picky, but we do feel confident this next home will be the last one we buy (moving is starting to get old;) and we both know what we want in a home.  For the time being - we are content to wait and hope for the right thing to come along.   So, we wait.  

Meanwhile, we are doing our best to make this rental feel like home.   

This is a 100 year old home that we are renting (as in it was literally built in 1915) and it originally existed as the maternity ward for the hospital.   It's definitely got a lot of charm to it (old doors, original hardwood etc) but it's age definitely shows.   The owners put a lot into renovations and updates, but one room of the house that had yet to receive any real attention was the front entryway:

This is what the front entryway looked like when we moved in.   The first door had to remain unlocked at all times because the doorbell was actually located inside the entryway just off of the 2nd door.    It really wasn't a huge problem.  This wall of nails, however, did cause us a little bit of concern.    (We felt pretty certain that if we didn't do something about it then eventually some unlucky visiting family member of ours was going to need a Tetanus shot!;)  haha

One afternoon I came home to discover that John had made up his mind.   He was going to kill two birds with one (very big) stone and renovate the whole thing!  I tried to tell him not too, because...well...for heaven sakes it isn't even our home!   Not only that, but I also didn't want him to go and make improvements on a home that is currently for SALE!!   I mean, what if he makes it look so good that it sells?  I'll tell you what would happen - we'd have to move!  (In case I haven't mentioned it, we've not yet found a house to move to?)    John kindly listened to what I had to say,  patted my head and said "there there" and then went and got his tools.

Here he was trying to explain to me all the reasons why this was a good idea.   Something about stripping it to the studs, re-wiring the thingamajic through the ceiling, adding watchamacallit to the walls and then "yadda yadda yadda yadda."    I think it was around this point that we both recognized the futility in trying to change each others minds.   (Besides, he was already deep enough into the project that it is too late to turn back anyways;)

Here is what the room looked like a couple of hours later.   

Can you believe it?  All of this for a little doorbell? ;)

The next day John had successfully repositioned the doorbell to where it now is, outside of the front door, and he added insulation everywhere that he could.    (I have to admit, I didn't expect that step to make as big of a difference as it did!)   

On the third day he drywalled everything.   

On the fourth day he sanded and painted.   

On the fifth day he installed baseboards and trim to finish it all off. 

And...

On the 6th day - he rested!!  

TA-DA!!

I love how much better it looks now and I hope the owners like it too.   

 I love love LOVE how John works so hard to improve the places that we live.   I am so thankful for the way he makes our house a HOME.  (I love how I am willing to say that after the work is done;)

Since this time, we have planted our garden, painted some of the rooms that had been damaged before we came, and have done some mild landscaping outside.    John has promised me that we are done with the renos, but quite frankly, I just don't know if I believe him.  

Something tells me, the only thing that will get him to stop fixing up this house, is to find one of our very own!  

 Stay tuned......

Spring Break Adventures

Spring break came and went with a flash.   We were initially planning on going to my sisters house for a few days, but had to cancel that due to a B-Ball tourney that Abby was scheduled to play in.  That ended up not being the case which was perfectly fine because we were also expecting lots of American company over that week.  But then they ended up not being able to come.   Just as John and I were starting to settle in for a long and quiet week - my entire family serendipitously all arrived in town on the same day, so we ended up having a bit of an Easter party after all!  haha

My family weren't here for long though, and so it was up to John and I to fill that glorious week off of school with all sorts of fun.  Some of the highlights included:

1.  Temple visits:

John and I were able to accompany Abby for her first ever trip to the temple to do Baptisms for the dead.   We were with a group of our ward young women, but it was nice to be able to help Abby through that special day and to watch John baptized her.   I've enjoyed seeing how her love for the temple has increased now that she can go in!   

The kids and I also had a fun afternoon picnic on the temple lawn one day while John was busy officiating at a funeral.   I was sure to send him a photo of us having fun, so that he could know that he was missing out;)  

2.  We got to spend a day out at Sommerland!!!

Some friends (and landlords;) of ours invited us out to their family cabin one day during the break.  It's aptly called "Sommerland" and it is a great place to spend a spring day.  John grew up next door to some of this family, and their Grandpa Dean sure had a lot of quads for the kids to ride.   

My kids had never been on a quad, let alone drive one themselves!!  They went all sorts of crazy, riding nonstop (literally until the fuel ran out), and they've each decided that this is what they are saving up their money for.   And hey, I'm okay with that!  (whatever takes their minds off the lizard they've been wanting;)

When the kids weren't out joyriding, we all kept ourselves busy visiting, building forts in the trees, playing Yahtzee, and eating lots of yummy food!    One thing that was particularly thrilling for me was to find little crocuses starting to poke up from the ground.   "Oh, hello SPRING!!!!!"

We got home that night just after 10:00 pm and the kids were all asleep the moment their heads hit their pillows, which is always a sure sign of a great day!!

3.  A bit of Paleontology out at St. Mary's

Towards the end of our spring break, we realized that we had not yet made a trip out to our favorite fossil hunting site.  In fact, we hadn't been out there at all since last fall, and I could tell that John was anxious to see if the winter weather had unearthed anything exciting.  Boy did it!!!  We hadn't been there five minutes before the kids started stumbling across all sorts of fossils.    And unlike searches in the past - they hardly had to search at all!!!   It was the strangest thing to walk along and look down and realize that you were staring at something really amazing.   

Picture 1 (with the pail) shows where all the major fossil finds were.   Picture 2 shows Jessica holding what we have since learned (from a local expert) was most likely a tooth from a Crocodilian dinosaur.   The third picture shows a giant tooth that Abby discovered.  It was all broken up, but we snapped that photo before Abby scooped each piece into a pail.   The fourth picture shows scattered fossils that John excitedly gathered one by one.   A similar find as this consisted 7 tiny serrated teeth that looked different than anything we'd ever found before.   John was excited to show those to his colleague as well who was able to identify them as Shark teeth.  They likely belonged to a "Snaggletooth" shark.  The cool thing about that though is because so many were found in one spot - Shane felt that this might mean that an actual skeleton is buried somewhere nearby, just waiting to be unearthed!  I generally just walk around and take pictures when the family wants to go fossil hunting, but this particular day was pretty darn exciting!!!

Abby carried all the tiny pieces of that tooth home and with a little bit of "Kragle" (haha) and a whole lot of patience, she worked on piecing that tooth back together!

John was pretty much on cloud 9 for the rest of the day (and pretty much every day since;)

I tell ya, it's bordering on an obsession now, but who knows, perhaps one of these four little hooligans may really take an interest in this whole thing.   

Other fun events of our week long holiday included sleepovers with cousins, trips to the local pool and a couple of days spent on some minor home renovations.  Yes, on the home that we are JUST RENTING!!!  (Stay tuned;)

It was a great week off, and one in which life taught me (yet again) that sometimes the best kind of plan to have - is NO PLAN AT ALL!!!!

Spring Catch up

Grandpa spent a chunk of March travelling in the US with John's sister Sarah.   They made their way to the Platt river to watch a large gathering of Cranes.  How amazing would that have been?!   We saw pictures afterwards and got to hear him relay the experience of watching thousands of Cranes as they stopped at this point in their migration.   Breathtaking!   He came home just in time for his Birthday and we were so glad to get to sing to him in person!!   As the kids swarmed him with stories and noise and the regular dinner time drama - I'm sure he felt a tinge of longing for the peaceful serenity of the Platt, but man o man, we were happy to have him home!!!

Not only does March bring us a chance to celebrate Grandpa's birthday, it is also the month that signals an end of winter.   The piles of winter snow begin to shrink, buds start to appear on the trees, and all sorts of wildlife once again venture into town while travelling along Lee Creek.   One day, while driving Abby up to the Junior High, we were a little surprised to see two large moose (meese?) making their way from the grocery store to the park.   It was a beautiful morning, and definitely the perfect weather for a day at the park, so why not!? ;)

March also seems to be the month of registration as the kids agendas/backpacks are sent home with all sorts of spring sporting opportunities!    Because we are super duper overprotective with our schedule (I offer no apologies;) the rule is that our kids are only allowed to participate in one sport per season.   March registration meant that Abby signed up for Spring League (she'll play at several Basketball tournaments in Lethbridge), Nate is signed up for Soccer, and Sam chose to play on a Minors Softball team.    Poor Jessica has yet to decide on anything, bless her heart!  haha

The other night we went up to town square so that the kids (especially Sam) could practice batting.   We played until dusk and it was the perfect spring evening!

Early in April I found myself wanting to find me some pussy willow branches.   Pussy Willows remind me so much of my Grandma as she had a beautiful willow tree that was such a source of fun and memories for me growing up.    I drove around for a day or two, only to discover that there aren't many pussy willow trees around this small town here;)  At least none I could get away with stealing branches off of.   Luckily, a friend of mine just outside of town was kind enough to offer all the branches I wanted.   I gathered an armful and have placed little twigs randomly around my home now.

They make me happy!

Leading up to Easter we had our traditional passover dinner.  I think the common criteria for all food served this night is that it had to be served plain and in its most raw form.  Sometimes I consider adopting a "Whole Foods" sort of diet and then we have this annual dinner and I am reminded of how much better food is as we currently enjoy it!  (ie: Olives are only good on top of pizza or some sort of dish laden with cheesy enchilada sauce!)

The kids always love to dress up for this meal and (despite the mugshot type expression on Jessica's face) this year was no different.   Abby however was M.I.A this year though as she had chosen to go down and catch a movie with her friend.   She walked in shortly after we'd all finished, looked at her siblings and asked, "Uh...was I supposed to dress up for this or something?" 

Luckily, we had saved her all the olives;)

No Easter would be complete (for me at least) without making these darling little Rice Krispie Birds nests.   The first time I remember making them was when I was 8 years old, when my step mom at the time showed me how easy they were.   They are my go to treat when mini eggs are abundant!

Nothing says spring to me like Easter treats, Pussy Willows and a schedule laden with practices and games!!!  

Sigh.....I love it all!

Finally official!

For months (maybe even the entire past year?) I've been talking to Abby as though she were already 12.   When she'd get upset at her siblings, I'd chastise her a little and remind her that "she was the one who was 12, not them."    When she'd start to argue with me about practicing the piano I'd tell her that she's practically 12 already!!  It's "time to stop fighting and start developing her talents!" 

 blah blah blah...      This type of logic with Abby always bothered John, for many reasons, the main one being that she just simply wasn't 12!  (He's all about accuracy at all times.  He gets equally upset when I tell people he's almost 40, because he's "not almost 40, he's 39!" ;)  

Anyways...back to Abby and the real reason for this post - She is now OFFICIALLY TWELVE!!!

Finally I can justify all of my lofty expectations for her, because she is indeed a young woman.

And she is a BEAUTIFUL young woman at that!!!

I was super proud of her last month when she completed all of her Faith in God goals!  (Just in time to graduate from Primary, but still - she did it!!)

Her actual birthday was a bit of a let down (have I mentioned that we had just moved and hosted a few days prior?  Poor girl got the short, exhausted end of the stick;) but I tried to compensate by decorating the kitchen and making her a Bacon laden supper! ;)   Her cousins Ava and Mya stopped by later that night to present her with some super special gifts!!

The Highlight for Abby though is that she is now old enough to be a part of the Young Womens Program.   She is coming to her first YW activity TONIGHT and is SO excited!   

I'm so excited for this girl and all that she is becoming!  

She's so helpful around the house,  wants to do what's right, and has just enough attitude to keep life interesting;)  

I once heard someone say, "We're not just trying to raise good children, we're trying to raise good ADULTS!"  I often reflect on that and wonder how I am doing with that charge, but when I watch Abby, I feel very content and satisfied that this is a remarkable human being.  She's filled to the brim with gifts and talents that are helping her grow into the type of adult that I know I will one day strive to be like.   

In short, I absolutely adore her!

Baptism Day

Jessica's baptism day was a special event for sure.      She got baptized on Feb 28th which also conveniently happened to be MOVING DAY for John and I!  

(The Ridley's were enroute home from their mission and John and I were spending that weekend trying to get our things out of their house before they arrived.)  We tried really hard though to hide our busyness so that Jess would feel like this weekend really was "all about her!" ;)

Luckily we had lots of family around us that weekend who helped make Jess feel special.   

On Saturday morning, we recruited the help of Johns and my Brothers/in laws to move our piano.  It's a heavy beast of a thing, but it is literally the one possession that we own that we truly love.    I felt bad for everyone who had to be a part of that effort, but I felt so grateful to know it was finally (and safely) situated in our new home.   

After that, my siblings helped put together a great family luncheon consisting of pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, salads, veggies and squares.    

Jessica's baptism was a darling event.   She'd spent weeks (even MONTHS) preparing for it and she knew exactly how she wanted it to go down!  haha

I was really so excited to get to pause for a bit and spend time with my family and I was super proud of Jess.  She WANTED to do this, not just because John and I have always taught her that being baptized is what she should do either - she really wanted to be!!

Her program consisted of a talk by her favorite missionaries EVER (Elder Palmer and Elder Clark),  a talk by Auntie Jewel, Grandpa Hardy and Ella both said prayers and Ava and Mya helped with music.   Everyone was so willing to assist in any way and they all made it such a great little hour!

Jess has really been missing her Saturday visits with these two!

Jess' best friend came as well with her Dad who is our Bishop, and it was fun for Jess to see some of her primary teachers/friends from class there as well.

When all was said and done, and once everyone had gone home, John and I (once again) resumed the work of packing and hauling boxes to the new house.  

 But it was nice, for a few brief hours to get to spend time with family and friends, focusing on the things that really do matter most!

The girl that likes to PARTY!

Well our little Jess has been pretty excited this month.   In fact the past month seems to be a blur consisting of one long Birthday planning session.  Her 8th Birthday!!!!

She would come to me daily, clip board and pen in hand, wanting to sort out every.last.detail:    

*When were we going to go shopping for the food for her friend party?

* When was I going to book the pool?

* When could she hand out her invites?

* When would she make her thank you bags for friends?

* When was she going to get her ears pierced?  (a right of passage when you turn 8 around here.  Well...if you are a girl at least;)

*What kind of food would we serve?

* When would she meet with the Bishop?

* Who would come to her "family" party

* What would her baptism dress look like?

* Who could she invite to each/either/every party?

* When could she start checking things off her list?

Needless to say, it has been a bit of an exercise in deflection for me as I've tried to tackle each party (friend, family, baptism) one happy event at a time!

In our home we tell the kids that every year they get to have a "Family Party" and every other year they can also have a "Friend Party."   This has been a great way for me to enjoy a year every now and then with NO birthday parties to worry about and for the most part - it's worked great!   This year though it happens to be a "Friend Party" year AND she's also getting baptized!  As a result, it has seemed like a never ending birthday celebration for this girl.  

Luckily, she's worth all this celebration!

Perhaps the highlight for me though has been having our stake's missionaries over each week to teach Jess the discussions.   This started back in January, in an effort to help Jessica really understand WHAT it was she was doing.   It ended up being a wonderful experience for our whole family!

Elder Clark is on the left and Elder Palmer is on the right.  Both of them are EXCEPTIONAL young men who our kids have truly come to love.    We've had lot of fun visits with them.

  

One of my favorite moments came one day when the Elders were teaching the kids about the Word of Wisdom.   As they were trying to explain to the kids the idea that we should refrain from drinking and doing drugs they asked, "Who knows what some of the things are that we should NOT put in our body?"    Sam raised his hand and said, "Meth?!"  

Granted he was right, but John, the missionaries and I were so shocked at his answer that we burst out laughing!  Sam went on to explain that his elementary school councillor had just talked with the kids about drugs.   Apparently meth was one that stood out to Sam.   

Sigh...some people's kids!!!

Jess' actual birthday was last Friday and she insisted on having her friend party at the local pool.   A few kids from school joined, as well as my Sister and her kids and it ended up being a great time.  Easiest, most lazy birthday party I've ever put on (we're in the middle of a move right now) but she didn't seem to even notice.  Thanks to her handy dandy clipboard I was able to make sure that all the essentials were there:

cake - check!

presents - check! 

Food - check!

Pool - Check!

Now all that is left is the most important event of all.   I'm super proud of Jess because even with ALL of her planning and scheming about parties this month, when asked about turning 8, Jess has always told others that she's "really just excited to be baptized!"   

This girl is a sparkling, shiny, light of a girl who loves everything about the whole world.   There are days when we will be driving somewhere and she will just say something like, "Every day is the best day ever" or "I always have the best life!"   

I'm convinced this is not a reflection really on anything that John and I are doing for this girl, but rather it is a result of her having the most joyful and loving heart Ive ever known. 

   

I'd throw her three more parties just to celebrate her all over again!

...Just kidding, I'm so done!

When Plan A fails... head to Waterton!

We're wrapping up a week off of school, and let me tell ya, it's been a pretty jam packed week!
We celebrated Jessica's birthday (with two parties already and a baptism still to come), we spent a couple of days cleaning a home we'll be moving in to soon, packed up a little bit here, spent a gazillion hours on the phone changing addresses etc, enjoyed some cousin company, AND John attended Teachers Convention.   

Whew!   I'm not complaining, but I do think I could use a little vacation from this vacation;)

Monday was a delight thought!   With it being Family Day, John and I decided to put everything else on hold and get out of town.   All winter long we've been looking forward to taking the kids down hill skiing, and by golly - this was the day!!!  (Even our little Nate was bursting at the seams, he was so determined to ski on his own;) 

So, we got up at 6:30 am (which doesn't even happen for me on a school day!) packed ourselves a lunch, loaded up the gear and headed out for Castle Mountain.

We got there shortly after 9 only to discover that it was their last operating day, due to the lack of snow.  Yes- that's right, LACK OF SNOW!!!   They were technically still willing to sell us lift tickets for the 1 or 2 runs that were open, but even those had more gravel on them then snow!!  

It was sooo disappointing.   

Of course, this all could have been avoided by simply calling ahead, but who had time for that?  We were all rushing to get out the door!!!

Luckily, even though Plan A didn't work out too well, our Plan B TOTALLY ROCKED!!  

We headed to Waterton, of course;)

John dropped the kids and I off at Cameron Falls while he drove back into town to get our x-country skis and gear.  (Because we'd only planned on renting downhill ski's remember?)   While we waited, we built a snowman by the falls, and then threw him over the edge into the icing rushing river.   We had plenty of time for a snowball fight, and then we walked over to the lodge and warmed up over a couple of giant plates of poutine!    So...great.

John met us at the lodge and from there we headed towards Cameron Lake!

This is us just before we started.

Did I mention that it was a perfect Day?  

Because it was.  

It was PERFECT!

The temp was hovering right around zero, which caused the kids to shed a layer or two before we even reached the lake.   Once there, we enjoyed our picnic lunch, walked over the lake, and watched a Stellar & Grey Jay familiarize themselves with us.   I've skied this road a few times now, and this was by far the warmest and most enjoyable trip yet!

On the way down we were shocked to notice how truly calm and still things were.  It's not often that you find a wintry day in Waterton with NO WIND!   

For a day that had started out so frustratingly, this was a perfect way to make everything right!   

Year end Tourney!

Basketball began last month for Abby.   She got o play on a Grade 6 league and this gave her her first real opportunity to be on a team.   I am CONVINCED that this is where the real growth starts.  There is something about playing on a team that helps solidify the love for the sport.   Abby, in the past, has been a little wishy washy about all things athletic, and John and I have certainly not wanted to push her.  It was so refreshing to watch her the past couple of months really develop some new skills and as a result - her confidence and interest in basketball has intensified as well!

John was asked to fill in and coach her team during the season end tournament.   It was fun to watch the two of them together.   Abby loved having John around, and he always puts is heart into any team he coaches.    I was a proud momma sitting on the sideline watching!

  

She's definitely got the height going for her, but like I said, John and I haven't really pushed basketball on her in the past, and so she's a little bit behind some of the others her age.  It will be interesting to see how things unfold as Abby gets older.    If she really takes this and goes with it, or not.    John and I both agree though that we'll be happy so long as she just finds something to put her heart and effort into.    Besides watching old episodes of Studio C,  that is! ;)