Food Trucks and life at 100 years....

One of the most exciting things that April has brought with it is the arrival of "FOOD TRUCK SEASON!"   Woop Woop!!!   Our little town does not provide a lucrative enough base for these food trucks to permanently set up camp, but every once in awhile an announcement will be made (via facebook) that they will be in town.   The trick is to get to the truck a few minutes prior to the scheduled opening time to avoid having to wait in line;)   

My favorite food trucks from last year were the "Flyin' Hawaiian" (which showed up this past Friday:) and the "Grub n' Go," which serves chicken fingers hot dogs and Filipino Spring Rolls and Pancit.  (Random perhaps but so delicious!)

Just when I think the warmer weather will help me get outside and loose weight....

(perhaps if I jog down to get my mini donuts and pina colada?)

Abby has only a few short months left of being the student body President.  For some unknown reason she (along with her friends, no doubt) decided to declare the last week of March a Dress up week which involved a certain theme every day.   Wednesday was "Disney Theme" and Abby craftily rigged up this Belle costume for herself.   She was super proud of it!

A few stakes in our area combined efforts to host a Family Day of Discovery at the High School.  The entire weekend revolved around Family History and bringing it alive.   On Friday evening there was a multi stake activity in which Mormon motivational speaker Hank Smith came and spoke to all of the youth.   Abby was invited to attend a special pre-activity meeting with him.   

Apparently the youth who met with him just talked with him about all things Canadian (ie: toques, poutine etc) and they took pictures together on the Temple lawn.  He was a super funny speaker and had the kids engaged the entire time.   I'll have to look up some of his other talks.   

On Saturday, Abby (along with her friend Hope) were presenters during one of the sessions.  

They taught us about the 1940 census, specifically what information we can gather about our ancestors from it.  She did great!  (in a darling, awkward sort of way;)

We're packing up and getting ready to move again, which means that I am (again) dejunking/sorting/organizing every bit of junk we still feel the need to hold on to.   

This was an old window pane that I have continued to bring with me from house to house.   Finally, I rigged up a practical use for it (and when I say I did, of course that means John did;)  It is now my necklace and earring holder.  I love it so much.   

I had to share this picture too.  Nate's Teacher texted me the other day and shared with me an assignment that she had her students do.  They were to draw a picture of themselves at 100 years of age and state what they would like to be doing.   

Nate's picture/response to this assignment is as follows: 

"When I'm 100...my Grandsons will dig me a grave."  

Sometimes there just are no words....;)

March Madness

What the ...what?  When did March end on me?

Thank Goodness have pictures to remind me of all the fun we've had.  For example...

We celebrated Grandpa's 74 Birthday with some of the cutest kids we know!   Blythe, Marilyn, Maddax, Savannah and Vivian all join us for the night.   

   

We ate yummy food, sang a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" and the kids played until late into the night.  

John and I were forced to stay up extra late this night because Abby was attending her very first stake dance EVER!   It was 80s themed, which blue eye shadow, dark liner, rolled up jeans etc.   

 It's a good thing Aunt Rachel was here and could get help her ready for me.

(One more picture of Grandpa because we love him so much!)

Abby has been enjoying her 2nd year with Leslie's Girls Choir group.  A few weeks back an Edmonton Children's choir did a Southern Alberta tour and made a stop here for a night.  We fed them all an evening supper and then the two choirs joined efforts to put on a concert.  

 It was a fabulous opportunity for these girls to mingle with other talented singers their age. 

Abby got a baritone Ukelele for her birthday and has been taking it with her everywhere she goes, jammin' with cousins, friends and anybody else who will sit down beside her.   She's learned some cute songs on it so far.  (Is it starting to seem as though March was all about Abby?)

Every spring and fall (when the General Relief Society Broadcast is held) my sisters and I get together and try to do some sort of service project together before the broadcast.   In the past we have baked buns/bread and delivered it to busy moms,  delivered flowers and chocolates to women in the ward etc.   This year we decided to try something a little different by opening up our very own "Cousins Cafe!"

We invited women in the ward who had young daughters, some who were going through hard times, and others who we just knew would be alone on this day.   Ella, Ava, Mya, Brooklyn, Abby and Jess were the waitresses and in charge of serving us for the entire dinner.   They had fun taking our orders and I had fun just sitting there visiting;)   I think I should step back and let my kids do more of the work in the kitchen, this was kinda a easy night!  (Though that may in part because Jewel, Heather and Crystal shouldered much of the prep work without me;)  haha

It was a wonderful evening, an excellent broadcast, and the perfect way to welcome in Spring!!  

(yup, that's right, in case last weeks snowstorm had you wondering - Spring IS here!)

In like a Lion

It's official, the unofficial poll results are in, every Mom I have talked to this week have agreed - March is Crazy!   Madness even;)    

Spring sports registration has begun which means that my kids come from school each day with a new sign up sheet in hand, begging to be able to sign up.  Baseball, Soccer, Badminton tryouts, Spring League... they want to do it all!  My method of copying with this is to hide the registration sheets under a massively growing pile of letters from the school and hope that my kids forget about it entirely.  It's a plan that isn't working too well (these kids are relentless!) and I suspect we will spend our spring season down on town square.  

Abby has been a part of Drama club this year and this past week was performance week!  It was her first time in a play and really...her first time on stage.  She pretty much rocked it;)

The play was called "Once on this Island" and was entirely new to the community.  John would likely tell you that it didn't contain the most riveting plot line but it was really well done and I LOVED watching Abby work hard at it.  

Abby and Jessica also travelled to Calgary for the weekend to compete in Choralfest.  Jessica went up on Friday with the elementary school choir and Abby spent two days up there with Leslie's Girls Choir.   Both groups came home with a Platinum which is the highest ranking a group can be given!!  

Woot Woot!

Jessica melted my heart when she came to me on Thursday night (while packing her travel bag) and showed me the four thank you notes she had put together. One for her three teachers who help with choir and one for the random bus driver (who she had yet to meet) who was hired to charter the group up there.   What a cheery GRATEFUL little soul this kid is.  I just adore her!

The past two weeks have been all about Basketball in this town as our Varsity Girls and Boys competed in Zones and then this week Provincials!!!  The boys made it all the way to the final but sadly lost after a hard fight.   This town breathes basketball this time of year.  Its always fun to watch!

And what would March be without a Leprechaun Trap right?  

This year Nate, in a rare moment of compassion, decided not to build a trap at all but rather a Leprechaun HOTEL!   We aren't sure how many Leprechauns stayed the night but it was a GENIUS idea nonetheless;)   

Spring is definitely near.   (Actually, I think it is technically here?)   We still get the odd snow fall but we've got more puddles then we do snowdrifts now so I think we are winning.   

Bring on the gum boots!

Driving me Crazy

It has been an adventurous week for Abby as we've celebrate her 14 years of living.  

Last Friday she had a waffle party with some of her friends.   They made Belgian Waffles, Donut Waffles (glazed donuts pressed in a waffle iron) and Cookie Dough Waffles (same idea).   It's amazing how much noise a gaggle of girls can make when doped up on waffles and sugary toppings.

It also amazed me how attached youth this age are to their phones and how even when we declare this a Girls Only party, boys still manage to be present via Live Instagram feeds.   Ugh.   

I'm not ready for this!

Abby waited anxiously all weekend long for Monday to come, in hopes that I would let her take the test that would qualify her to get her "Learners Permit."  I hummed and hawed about this and threatened to never let her take it, and part of me was so serious.  I'm not ready for this!!  

In the end, she sent me a text from school and simply told me that she would meet me there after school.  

Um.....ok?

  

I complied, mostly because I had no solid reason not too, and we went down to the local registry office as soon as school got out.   I was half hoping she'd fail the test but in true Abby fashion - she passed with flying colors.   Abby was thrilled.   I wanted to cry.  

I've often heard stories of friends of mine who let their kids drive home for the first time right from the registry office.   For the life of me, I couldn't picture Abby maneuvering our busy downtown streets (sarcasm intended) and so I instead drove her to the largest parking lot that I know of in town and (after a quick rundown of everything she needed to know) I let her go.

She was doing fine.  Sure, she pretended to be freaking out and all, but really she was doing just fine.  She was happy as a lark and as I watched her peruse around the parking lot for a good 15 or 20 minutes, I thought to my naive self - "Sure...she's ready to drive us home.  No problem!" 

She took it nice and slow, I mean real slow, .... painfully slow!

She stopped miles ahead of each yield sign, drove 10km/hour through the school zone and once even stopped in the middle of a street because she saw kids playing on a front lawn.  To say this girl was being cautious would be an understatement.   

Which is what makes the next part of my story so darn confusing, because I still don't understand why (after all that painfully cautious driving) after driving all across town, and just as we were seconds away from being home, why she chose to make the last corner without even slowing down.  

But she did. 

As we turned the corner to approach our house I noticed that she was turning awfully fast and really wide.   I could sense that any minute we'd lose control and easily be in the oncoming lane.   I didn't panic or yell (though she might say I did;) as I calmly cautioned, "Abby Slow!  Sharp."

Well.

She apparently took "Sharp" to mean "FASTER!" and naturally she stepped on the gas, which sent us headed straight for a parked vehicle across the street.  At this point I did yell, "Abby!  BRAKE!!!!"   

Her response was to take both hands of the wheel and scream, "Ahhh!  I don't know where the break is, I don't know what to do!"   

All of this happened so fast and was over in mere seconds.   The runaway van we were trapped in simply jumped the curb and stopped abruptly, high centred on a giant mound of ice on a neighbors front lawn.  I turned to Abby and (CALMLY) asked, "What.the.heck.was.that?"  

Her response:  "Momit'snotmyfaultyousaidsharperandthatmeansfasterandyoushouldn'thaveletmedriveinthefirstplaceandI'mneverdrivingagain!"

So, here we were.  

Stuck in this awful, nasty, embarrassing, no good situation and all I could think was how John would be passing by any moment on his way home from work and he'd surely have to save the day and then all would know that John was the better parent then I.

Sigh.....

Luckily, the husband of one of my favorite former neighbors (it helps to move around a lot, you meet a lot of people;) passed by just at that moment.   It was obvious our van was not going anywhere with out being pulled away and luckily he had all the necessary gear to do that.   It took probably two minutes before we were pulled out and on our way again. 

Of course I made Abby get in the drivers seat and circle around to re do that very corner.  It gave her the chance to get back up on the proverbial horse and try again and it gave me a chance to stall a bit more before going home to face John.

In the end John was a champ about it (he always is) and didn't rub my nose in the fact that he would have done a better job at teaching Abby how to drive, than I.   Perhaps he just felt confident that some things don't need to be said out loud? 

At any rate, all is well that ends well, right?   

We've lived to tell the tale (and even laugh about it), there was no damage to the van (that we know of), and Abby has been able to just get her one and only driving mishap out of the way right, off the bat!

Have I mentioned I'm not ready for this?!

14 Candles

This darling friend turned 14 over the weekend which means that I spent many hours deep in existential thought wondering how to possibly parent a kid this old. It's a vulnerable feeling - this business of letting your child grow up and experience whatever it is they are meant to experience. If i could give her a fast pass right on by this stage of life, I'm sure I would. Abby, on the other hand, is all excitement and enthusiasm. (She's adorable like that;)

#whatidontknowscaresme

#practicingtrust

#rootsandwings

What February brings...

February brought with it one of the snowiest months we've had in years; we even got a snow day out of it!!!  There is nothing better than being shut down due to a snow storm.   

(Coziest, most unexpected gift of time ever!)

Just before the storm hit, Jessica and I dashed out to Waterton for a lunch date and some photo taking.  Even though it was nice in town, weather had already turned fierce in the mountains.  We pretty much risked life and limb for a hot dog from Wieners of Waterton.   

All of that snow gave Nate the chance to get creative with his snowman making!

Valentines snuck up on us fast!   Abby and Sam are too cool for school these days and insist that nobody their age gives Valentines anymore, which is unfortunate because, well...how fun is all this?

Just a side note that is super duper worth remembering forever and all time - John SHOCKED me and actually remembered that it was Valentines day.  Not only that, he got me a gift and it was so perfect.  He registered us in a 17 class Massage Course!  It's been super super fun to learn!!

Jessica had a great birthday.  She's 10 now (which isn't great but apparently can't be stopped) and I can't believe what a darling 10 year old she is!   

Get this, she originally suggested not having a friend party and instead going out to Waterton with me on a date.  What kid wants to hang out with their Mom more than have a smashing Birthday Party?!!  This kid - that's who!!!  

Of course, I let her have both.   

Her and I drove out together and ate together at Vimys and then drove around town and took photos of her blowing away in the wind.   Five days later she invited five girlfriends over for supper and a movie down at the local Theatre.   I've decided that is the only kind of Birthday Party that I want to host from this point on.  It's crazy expensive but so worth the lack of effort;)   

We just finished off a week long break from work/school, yet another beautiful thing that February brings;)   I can't express how much I love it when our whole family gets to holiday together.   

We relaxed a lot, played board games, babysat cousins, fixed this house up a bit in preparation to move and even went skiing at Castle Mountain one last time.   On the warmest day of the week we ventured out to St. Mary's reservoir for our first Fossil Hunt of the year.   (As you can see, our warmest day wasn't really that warm;)

We are SO ready for SPRING!!!

Sister Reeves and such

This past Friday I attended a tri-stake Fireside in which Sister Linda S. Reeves from the General Relief Society came to speak to us.   It was incredible and uplifting and edifying and everything else in between.   It was interesting to watch her speak.  She had come prepared with a video and photos to share, but minutes into her presentation she acknowledged that she was feeling as though she needed to switch gears.   Instead of talking about her original topic which was "Loving as Christ Loves" she instead spoke to us about Testimony.  

It was interactive and informative and inspiring and (yup) everything in between!

Because we have a cousin who works as a secretary to the General RS presidency, Jewel was able to play that card beautifully and snag a picture with her after wards.  She's lovely and graceful.   

 I, on the other hand, looked awfully chubby  grubby in this photo.  I'm pretty sure I had pizza sauce on my skirt too.  (Some of us don't get to be as graceful in life, I suppose;)

A neighbor who lives down the street made a skating rink in his backyard.  He's obviously an optimist and decided to take advantage of the -30 degree temps.  (ie; when life hands you lemons;)

Anyways, he told John to bring the fam down any time they wanted to skate.   It made for a pretty fabulous Friday afternoon as we found some sticks and a puck and played a game of hockey together.    

Nate especially enjoyed it and skated until the sun was almost down.  He was most thrilled to share with us the technique he apparently mastered for stealing some one's puck (which involves using his own stick to lift someone else's off the ground.)

Nate came home that evening and declared with a smile that skating is so much easier when done outdoors. 

How very Canadian of him!

Second Week of Holidays...

Oh Boo-hoo, woe is me.... school starts tomorrow!   

Obviously it's hard to consider work/school tomorrow seeing has we've just had the most fabulous Christmas vacation ever!!

It was just P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

Nate got sick with a brutal cold - which is exactly what I wanted to happen. (Better now then when school is in.)  

We had family come visit - which is always nice.

Enjoyed a Calgary vacation with my family - thanks to my Brother's fun surprise.

We watched lots of movies - can you say "couch potatoes?"

We ate yummy snacks non stop - that's what New Years resolutions are for.

Went on dates, played board games, and read more then we have all year - which still isn't much, but still.  

This past week, we made sure to cram into our very busy holiday schedule a couple of more fun days before real life sets in again.   

On Monday we all travelled to Castle Mountain for some downhill skiing!   This is our third year taking the kids and we enjoyed it just as much as ever, despite the -28 degree temperature.
Yup!  -28 degrees!!!  Our kids were real troopers.  

Abby continued to improve and enjoy skiing.   She went from the hill to the lodge, entirely on her own.   We pretty much just trusted that she was alive and well and not curled up in a broken ball somewhere at the bottom of the hill.   

Sam and Jess surprised me the most.   Our family has not ventured far beyond the Bunny Hill (in case anyone was starting to be impressed or anything) but these two kids sure do love SPEED!!!   They were often spotted whipping around a corner or racing down the hill, one after the other.   They reminded me of two Super Mario Kart racers.   

 Nate sure impressed us too.   He would have been content to spend the day sitting in the warm lodge eating Doritos and hot dogs and playing Candyland with me but he really did spend most of his time on the hill with Dad.   He's really getting confident and for the most part, can do an entire run all by himself.  

For the second year in a row, I managed to roll down the mountain and live to tell about it.  I caught on faster this year though and felt a little more comfortable venturing places on my own.   I did throw a little tantrum (when I fell down and couldn't get up) - but only once.    

 I also hit a tree, but again - only once;)  

The Gladdings (dear sweet friends of ours from our former 5th ward days) invited us all to watch the movie MOANA with them.   Their grandson in law had a role in the production of the movie and so they were excited to show it to us.   We stayed until the very end of the credits to find his name as well as his daughters name.   Did you know that if any employee has a baby while working on a movie that baby gets a spot in the credits.   True story.  There is a section in the credits just for "Production Babies."    Anyways, we found little Sariah's name and LOVED the movie tonnes!   Moana is a new favorite of mine.  I could relate to her as I too feel as though the ocean is calling to me.  haha. 

  I really must go someday. 

As the week neared an end, we knew we had to get out to Waterton for a bit of X country skiing.   Of course, it was another balmy -15 degrees out (actually it did feel balmy compared to our ski trip earlier in the week.)     The trail was unusually quiet on this particular day and for most of the time, we were pretty much alone.  

Akimina Rd (the road up to Cameron Lake) has been closed for over a year.  This past summer NOBODY was allowed up there due to construction, so I was super excited to be able to ski in now.   I was very surprised by all the changes.   First thing I noticed as I approached the parking lot was that they had clear cut a large portion of the forest to make room for a larger parking lot (cue Joni Mitchells song "Paved Paradise) but that is not all.   They also tore down the visitor center (the one that had the large telescope where you could look out to the far end of the lake with)   In it's place they have built two smaller buildings.   Along the outer edge of the entire gargantuan parking lot they have built an additional four or five buildings, each one consisting of four bathrooms.   

I'm sure from a park admin perspective, building 16+ bathrooms makes perfect sense (and I may even appreciate this once the busy summer rush sets in) but I don't love change and it all just seemed a little too "Lorax-y."     I'm not sure why nobody asked my opinion about this though? ;) haha    

Anyways, we skied through the barren wasteland  parking lot to the lake where we officially rang in the New Year with sparklers.  

We lingered for about 5 more seconds before turning around and heading back towards the van.   We were all COOOOOOLD!!!!!

Poor Nate was particularly cold.  And hungry.  And exhausted. 

He cried the whole way back to the van, except for the moments where he paused long enough to tell me that he "hates Waterton" and "Why do we always have to come to Waterton?" and that he is "NEVER coming to Waterton again!"   

It was a really special day;)

As I mentioned earlier, we all go back to school tomorrow.  

I'm already looking forward to our February break.  Soon after that, we'll enjoy our Easter break in April. Then May long weekend.   And then school is basically done.

So really- Summer is almost here.

Whoop Whoop!

First week off....

After our AMAZING Christmas celebration, we have spent the past week enjoying lots and lots of family time.   Some of our post Christmas Highlights include:

Late nights watching movies and sleeping in forts.  There have been a couple of nights where we have ALL (John, the kids and I) hauled our foam mattresses out into the living room and slept together on the floor in front of the Christmas tree.    Other nights, when John and I prefer actually sleeping comfortably, the kids sleep in their self made forts or under the pool table.    

 It's made for lots of late night giggles and silliness!

I've spent a few days practicing black and white photography.
I call this random one "Shoulder Angel."  haha.  (PS:  Sam is a clown)

This photo absolutely melts my heart.  This hear is ma baby!   I can't stand it.  

 John and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this past week.  John was sweet and bought me 15 roses, one for every year we've been married.   To be honest, he did this because I demanded asked him to (I LOVE fresh flowers) but I kinda think that makes it even sweeter of him, you know, that he would cater to such an entitled request and all.   Fifteen years hardly seems like any time at all.  

We are a couple of babies still, the two of us.   

Each year, at some point after Christmas and before New Years Eve, our little "shelf elf" hides all the Christmas decorations and covers the tree with New Years goodies.   Nothing major, just some party hats, balloons, streamers, and noise makers.   It always provides a nice face lift for the tree and it gives us a few more days enjoying the pretty lights!

Our family was introduced to the Whirley Pop this week (thanks to Aunt Rachel!;) and as a result we have eaten an exorbitant amount of popcorn and spent an equally ridiculous amount of time watching movies together.   This week marks our 6th annual Lord of the Rings marathon, so the ol' Whirley Pop couldn't have come at a better time!  

On Friday we joined the rest of our family at my brothers house.  Chad was hosting our pre-New Years get together, only little did our kids know, he was cooking up something BIG!   We arrived around noon, John and I made a can-cooker lunch for all of my siblings and their fams, and then Chad let everyone know that he had booked FIVE ROOMS at the Sheraton Cavalier in Calgary, AB.  

EEEEEKKK!!!!!!

Growing up, this was a favorite place for my family to come.   Dad brought us kids here on several different occasions, one even being New Years Eve years and years ago!!!!

The kids were elated.   We hadn't even been at the hotel for ten minutes before they were in their swim suits and in search of the pool and water slides!

They swam and played together for hours, stopping only when we had to eat or sleep;)

Chad surprised everyone (again) with an amazing pizza party style supper.   

The cousins stayed up as late as they could (some made it to midnight) playing games and visiting together.   

On our final morning there, they all donned party hats and rang in the New Year (a few hours early) with noisemakers!  It is at this moment, I believe  that they sang a song they'd written the night before;  something about how "everybody wishes they were part of our family...."  haha

It was a wonderful time together.  Relaxing, entertaining....and pretty darn near perfect!!!

There's no better way to ring in the New Year then with a good ol' Hotel TRASH AND DASH!!!