My cup runneth over

Volleyball for Abby has come and gone.  (At least for this school year) 

After a couple of challenging years, watching her struggle to feel a part of a team it has been such a blessing to see her blossom and grow in this sport this year.  Her coaches have pushed her team to do things they'd never before learned and as a result, they won more games than they lost and ended up placing quite well at zones.   More importantly though, she grew closer to her team and enjoyed herself so much more than she has in years past.   It did this mama's heart so much good to see and meant more to me than any win or loss could have.  Yay Abby!!!

Abby completed her Young Women's in Excellence project the night before Young Women's in Excellence, because well that's pretty much how we roll these days;)  

Considering the fact that it took us two attempts and 12 months to complete this T-shirt quilt, I'm actually quite proud that she finished it at all.  There were many MANY times (usually in those moments when we had to unstitch every thing) that I truly wanted to light the thing on fire!

It is soft and cozy and Abby loves laying it on her bed.  I love looking at all of the highlights and activities she's enjoyed over the past couple of years.   This blanket really is a reflection of her Divine Nature as well as her kick butt personality!

Halloween was weird this year.  

Not spooky.  Not Crazy.

Weird.

First of all, I'm going to have to remember to buy pumpkins well in advance next year if I want to be able to carve Jack o lanterns.    This year I checked all over town and all I could find as options to carve were these: 

Nate was beyond disappointed - but I actually think we will try the whole watermelon jack-o-lantern again.  

Another thing that made Halloween weird to me as that Abby didn't hang around to trick or treat OR hand out candy.  She left us, and went to a party, and on a school night even.   

Abby wasn't the only one who made her own plans for Halloween. Sam (who dressed up as Alvin just to go along with a a group of girls dressing up as Chipettes) also ditched us for a Halloween party at his friends house.   I don't know what bothered me most about this - that he dressed up to impress a couple of girls or that he is suddenly too cool for trick or treating too.   WEIRD!!

I was trying to wrap my mind around having just Jess and Nate to go trick or treating with when (you'll never guess what happened) - her friends called her and whisked her away!

Minutes later, Nate's friend called and asked Nate to join him for the evening.  

Of course John was at a Volleyball game this night as well, because why would he not have his own plans as well, right? 

So there I was, Halloween night (my once favorite night of the year) all alone. 
I sat on the living room couch anxiously awaiting trick or treaters, but few came.  

Weirdest...QUIETEST...most boring night of the year!!!!

Apparently the rest of the family thinks it was great fun though;)

Speaking of Solitude, one day in October (while John was in Edmonton at a Volleyball tourney) I whipped into the city for a little shopping and couldn't help but stop at my new favorite restaurant - Fusion!   They offer a lunchtime special where you can order unlimited amounts of anything on their menu for just $16.95.  The best part is, you place your order thru an ipad so you don't even have to speak to a waitress or anything.  I guess it is sorta sad that this is the way dining is going but it was actually quite nice to just sit for an hour and read a book while snacking on copious amounts of sushi and Thai deliciousness.  

For the record - THIS is the kind of solitude I enjoy! 

(Perhaps I'll spend next Halloween at fusion;)

We were thrilled thrilled THRILLED to celebrate Nate's 8th year of life last weekend!

His whole week was a celebration with Birthday cake on Wednesday, a birthday party on Thursday and the culminating event - his baptism on Saturday!!!

We were super excited to have Grandpa, Johns sister Rachel and her family, and my siblings (Chad, Jewel, Crystal) and their families join us.  

Nate felt like a rock star and I was so very grateful and thrilled to celebrate this milestone with him.  

My Mom was only able to see her oldest child baptized and I have gotten to watch all four of mine become official members of this Church that has blessed my life so very much.  

My cup runneth over. 

(I'll come back and look at this photo often in those moments that I forget that)

Throwback Time

This journal entry simply contains a few of the noteworthy moments that I neglected to write about between August and now.   Moments like...

- This afternoon that we spent at Grandpa's house.  

We don't get over to Grandpa's very often (mostly because he comes to us) but when we do we are always amazed at the beauty of his yard.   I mean really - how could one not feel happy in a place like this!

Sam turned 12 in August and John and I were able to spend a Friday afternoon with him and Abby in the temple.  

Abby has been so good about showing him the ropes, taking him to the Family History centre sometimes, helping him find names and making it all seem fun.

We have two darling little neighbors that often like to come over and play with Jessica.  (Who wouldn't want to come over and play with Jessica?;)   

We took a giant leap of Faith this past September and sold our gold Dodge Caravan (lovingly known to us as "Jazzy")   Jazzy was just costing us a little too much each month on repairs so we sold her to a young couple in town and purchased a 2013 Dodge Caravan.   Okay- so clearly this was not a huge leap of faith (going from one very used dodge caravan to a very slightly used dodge caravan) but it was a big freaking deal, Ok!!  It super stresses me out to have to make decisions with our money.  We could have paid the van off entirely, which is a blessing, but we decided to finance a small remaining balance over the next two years.   Now I'm not sure why.  Anyways - it is white.   I've decided that I really like white vehicles.   Perhaps one day t will make it into a journal entry.   Today though- it is just one last photo of Jess and Jazzy.  

Jewel, Crystal and our girls went out to Waterton to watch the annual LDS Women's broadcast alone at the Waterton Chapel.  We were mostly excited to get to scout out the post fire damage.  

There was lots of hustle and bustle as workers were trying to remove debris and prepare to rebuild.   

I've decided to try and photograph out there once a month for a year.  I'm super excited to see what the regrowing process will look like!

Loved spending an evening with all these girls!

Abby is playing Volleyball (Sam is also playing and John is coaching which makes life so busy that it makes me want to stick a fork in my eye) and she is loving it this year!   She's got a coach that expects a lot out of them and works them hard which Abby seems to be responding well to.  

My boys rediscovered the rip stick and long board a couple of weeks back.  I found it ironic that they both went three years without wanting to play with those things at all and then suddenly they couldn't get enough of it.   They spent a couple of days doing tricks in the church parking lot and now the boards are back to collecting dust in the garage.   Such a random little blip of interest.  haha.

While on our trip to BC I had found a had that I loved, loved, loved!!  Sadly, we were in a rush to catch the ferry and John wasn't feeling the whole "lets just buy whatever we see and want" mentality so in an effort to be frugal I didn't buy it.   I spent the rest of the trip regretting that. 

Luckily I found a cheap knock off on line and for $14.99 I almost feel like I have the actual hat I missed out on getting.  Almost.   This will probably sit up in my closet and collect dust much like my boys rip stick and long board - but c'est la vie.   

The kids and I have discovered these giant foam baby heads and had to pick up a couple.  Nate is going as a baby for Halloween.   haha.   Our darling niece Vivian and her family joined us recently for Thanksgiving dinner and the poor girl was freaked out of her mind when Sam walked into the room with one of these baby heads on.  I don't blame her!!!   

We have LOVED the cooler Autumn temperatures, the reprieve of moisture that we've received since the wildfires. 

 We've even been happy for moisture that came in the form of snow - especially considering that we all got a snow day out of it!!!

There is absolutely nothing sweeter in life than a snow day!!

Sam attended his first ever Priesthood broadcast this past month and got to go with his Dad and his Grandpa.   I really love this picture as all of these men seem to share the same straight line smile.  

 I call this Johns "I'm going to a meeting" smile.  

Of course one of those blasted baby heads had to resurface later in the month as well.   

One day John came home from a weekend tournament with Bus #80 - the kids' favorite bus of all!

They spent every minute they could making up all sorts of pretend fun on the bus, until John had to leave. 

This is pretty much the only perk there is to having John coach a Varsity team.   If you ask the kids though they'd all say that a bus for a toy is a pretty great perk.

As mentioned earlier, Rachel and her fam came down to visit and have Thanksgiving supper with us.  It was great fun and absolutely delicious thanks to Grandpas contribution of his famous stuffing and pumpkin pie!

Jessica had made darling little turkey place cards for every family member prior to dinner.  It's her favorite thing to do every time company comes.   I love that little crafter!!

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend was spent helping Grandpa with some of his harvesting. 

Beets, Potatoes and Carrots are out of the ground and stored away. 

We also managed to steal away for a quick drive through the park.   We were so encouraged to see little sprouts of green grass breaking up through the ash.  Oh it could look so beautiful in the spring!

The fall leaves are pretty much all fallen now but it was a beautiful two weeks while they lasted.  

It's back to school/work tomorrow and I feel filled to the brim with gratitude (and turkey) for all that we are blessed with in this life. 

God is good.

The Kenow Beast

If I had to sum up what September meant to me (in two words) it would be...

Kenow Beast.

That is the name that was given to the massive wildfire that began in the Kenow Basin (somewhere in British Columbia) and crossed the great divide into our beloved Waterton Park on Sept 11th.   

The fire actually began (thanks Lightning!) a couple of weeks prior and hovered for the longest time along the BC/Alberta border.   Standing by the stance (the very viable stance) that it is healthy and natural for a forest to experience fire - Parks Canada and fire officials mostly watched the fire slowly grow, preparing for the worst and doing their best to minimize potential damage and evacuate preemptive.   

The townsite of Waterton was evacuated as soon as officials began to feel certain that the fire was posing a threat to the residents.   It is a good thing they did!

Though the fire grew at a reasonable/manageable rate over those two weeks - in one day it doubled in size, breaching the parks border, crossing over well known terrain such as Bertha, Cameron and Red Rock,  travelling down towards the townsite and  then leaving the park at the main entrance!

Carried by strong wind, the fire quickly approached the community of mountain view, forcing a mandatory evacuation of the west portion of Cardston County.   I was up that entire night wondering if my friends/coworkers had lost their homes, if we would have to be evacuated, and if there would be any it of Waterton left.   

Below are some of the photos that tugged at my heart over the course of these few days.  

Unlike previous journal entries, none of these photos contained in this post were taken by me:   

The local fireman (as well as firemen from Calgary, Lethbridge, Taber, Claresholm etc) had worked feverishly for a coupe of days to prepare Waterton townsite for impending fire.   Seven miles of hose, many pumps, giant sprinklers and copious amounts of fire retardant foam were used.   What a site that must have been for those resting fighters to watch the fire arrive, knowing that once it did, there would be little that they could do.

A co worker of John's and mine is also a firefighter and actually had a leadership role in fighting this Kenow Fire.   He said nothing could have prepared them for the wall of fire that surround them in a matter of minutes.  

The Visitor Centre was one of the first casualties.   Luckily the fire never did breach the actual town site, but it did destroy this center, a few administrative buildings, a portion of the Golf Course, the stables in its entirety, the Park Wardens home as well as some ranchers homes/property.   

Apparently firefighters were told not to protect the visitors center which is interesting considering the heated controversy surrounding the building of a new visitor center.   This recent development could either provide a new found location (land minus old buildings) in which a visitor center could be more amicably built, OR it will provide a more urgent need for the Park Superintendent to ram his agenda for a new building to be built where the much loved community park now stands.     

This photo shows just how close the fire came to some of the cabins.   Literally in the back yards of some!

It's amazing that these small park entrance huts are still standing.  John and I were relieved to see that our favorite defected automated gate is still there.
Of course it would survive;)

This is how the sky looked all evening.  It was eerie!!!!

I didn't sleep much that night, in fact, I woke often to check facebook and shed a tear every time I saw an update or new photo of the park.  Watching Bears Hump go up in smoke was a hard one for me.   Our family has hiked that every year and now it has been forever changed.  

Actually...70% of the park has been forever changed.    

The south side of the park (Vimy, Crypt etc) is still very much untouched, but anything remotely north of the lake is burnt.   Many Wildlife was killed, though the park says there is still some life there and the most recent reports indicate that it will be months and years before most trails are open to the public.  When they are - they will be very exposed trails indeed!  

Ahhh...I could still cry!!!

The day after the fire was a sobering one.  

Though school was cancelled for some, John and I still had work.   The sky over our little town was black.   Like...literally the blackest I'd ever seen.   

Ash (burnt pieces of our park) were falling down around us like giant flakes of snow.   

Everyone functioned in a semi awake sort of way - all with heavy hearts.  

It was weird.  

John and I have little to complain about though.   

We didn't have any equipment in the park.  We lost no Ranch lands.  Our livestock wasn't killed.  Our crops weren't burned.     Truly, the only tangible way that we were effected by that fire that week was we took in two little evacuee birds that belonged to a country dwelling friend of ours who had to flee her home and couldn't take her canaries with her.   

It's been interesting to go back to the park since and I wonder if I will ever see it again as it once was.   One man said in an interview that he suspects Waterton will see some visits over the course of this next year as people come to see the damage, but visits will likely (he said surely) decline after that.  

I for one won't shed a tear if fewer people visit the park (haha) it's still beautiful to me!!

 

Back to School

September 5th came faster than we had hoped (we could have used at least another week of summer break) but the kids tackled their first day of school with enthusiasm just the same. 

Nate was perhaps the excited one.   He had a hard time settling down the night before and he insisted on taking a plate of butter horns to his Grade 2 teacher on the first day.  

 (can everybody say KEENER?;) 

Look at that kid though.   He's pretty scrumptious.

Jessica is tackling grade 5 this year.  She is in a separate class this year from many of her friends and this has been hard for her.   I've been proud of the way she has stretched herself and tried to make new friends.    She's already signed up for Safety Patrol and Kitchen help at noon.   

She's going to be just fine!

Sam is taking on grade 7 with absolute confidence.  He is on the yearbook committee this year and has made the Volleyball team.  I feel pretty certain that he will laugh his way through the next 12 months and drag others along with him as he goes.   Heaven help his teachers;)  

Abby is the one who caused me the most trepidation this year.  She's entering Grade 9 which means she is now at the High School!!   She'll have John as a teacher next semester and I hope to be able to see her in the halls when I am at work too - but still - what if it is a hard year for her?   

What if the other girls aren't kind?

What if she has bad study habits and her grades slip? 

What if her Volleyball season is hard on her and she never tries out again?

What if...?  

What if.....?

I should probably sit back and relax a little and trust that this is a human being with a kind heart and a logical thinking brain.  I'm sure this year won't be without its challenges, but she will be alright.  

Right?   

I'm sure grateful for the reassurance I often feel that these kids are not on their own during their day.  

There have been times where I have prayed for their angel grandparents to literally walk those halls with my kids.  If that could be the case, they would be in good hands indeed.

Girls Camp YW - {Part of our Summer 2017 Top Ten}

At the very end of summer, Abby and I left for a few days to attend Young Women's Camp.    

Our Young Women's president chose the phrase "Be- YOU- tiful" to be our camp theme.  

Ten of our eighteen girls were able to join us and they really beautiful young ladies.  

We held camp at Camp Impeesa which is a facility owned and run by Scouts Canada.   It offered lots of fun activities for us to do during the day.    Some of the fun we enjoyed during these three days consisted of:

Tomahawk throwing....

 Paddle boarding and Swimming....

Bear education from the hilarious hired camp security named TRACKER....

and Zip lining!

The zip lining was a highlight for these girls for sure.   I'm not going to lie - that climb up that rope ladder was harder than I expected.

The ride was definitely a fun one though.   I had fun crossing the lake with Abby beside me.

Of course we had to think up a craft for these girls to do during the down time.  

This was a bit labor intensive but they did it!

It was a fun way to wrap up a VERY adventurous summer!!