Spring Drives with my bird watcher

After a long winter, we were glad to seize a couple of opportunities this past month to go for a drive in search of "Spring."  One opportunity came shortly after Jessica's birthday when her and I realized we still had to make our annual "birthday drive to Waterton" together happen.   The other opportunity came a couple of weekends back when we found ourselves enjoying a Saturday with a few rare unplanned hours to burn.  

We enjoyed seeing Waterton and notice some of the tell tale signs that the park is starting to wake up.  The lakes are beginning to thaw, birds are returning, and the massive piles of snow are beginning to shrink.   

We've also noticed (outside of the park) many eagles soaring mightily above us.   

March is "Eagle Month" around these parts and I am glad we were able to get out and see some of them.

On one particular drive through Beazer, John, Jessia and I saw 15 eagles!!!!

Jessica has been a darling and loyal sidekick to have around on drives like this.  She likes photography too and she not only has an eye for spotting the wildlife but an appreciation for it all too.

Both her and I are counting the days until Spring.  

We feel confident it is just around the corner...ish.  

Families who fall down mountains together - stay together!

Our annual family ski trip was a success!  

And by "success," I mean that...

- the whole family skied 

- Nate killed it all day long, insisting on riding up alone, and going down by himself

- Abby, Sam and Jess ventured further up different trails

- and I fell only once the entire day!  (Dang bunny hill chair life...)

See what I mean?

Total SMASHING success!!

Happy New Year!

Oh the holidays were dreamy!   

We've been back at school for one week now and already we are counting the days until the next break.   It just won't be the same without a tree though;)  

I. Love. New years. 

Like love love LOVE It!

I love it so much, I usually take the Christmas decorations off our tree and spend a few days enjoying a NEW YEARS themed tree.  Super fun.  

This past New Years fell on a Sunday which made for an interesting day.  

We attended church in our ward and then had Grandpa join us for supper.   

We had a roast beef dinner, talked about the past year and evaluated who had been most accurate with their predictions, and then made predictions for the year to come.  I think we are creatures of habit.  We do the same things every year - but it never gets old!

Later that night we headed on over to my sisters house so the kids could all ring in the New Year with their cousins.  

It  was a fun time.  Mafia, board games, food, a countdown and more!

I feel so grateful for all that this past year was for us and I feel hopeful of what this new year will bring.  John and I are blessed beyond measure!

Sixteen Years

 Yesterday (Dec 28) John and I celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary.

We drove into the city (as in Lethbridge;) and went bowling before eating out at Moxies.  

All that was nice and fun, but it was really great coming home to this:

I love everything about this sign.

I love that Jessica misspelled Anniversary.

I love that my kids worked together to make this day special for us.

I love that this banner is hung below a picture of our kids.

I just love it all!

I've thought often on the experiences that we have had over the past sixteen years.   Four kids, one miscarriage, a BRCA1 mutation, a preventative double mastectomy, hours and days and years of worry/anxiety, a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis, jobs we've hated and then jobs we've loved, financial strain and then abundance, lost loved ones, answered prayers, family vacations, blessings upon blessings, happy memories,  and a multitude of seemingly ordinary days in between.   When I consider what we have gone through together, I feel as though we have run the gamut, and yet I also sense that we have barely scratched the surface of what we are meant to accomplish together. 
 We are each individually the product of what we experience,  yet I am convinced that our marriage is a product of each experience too.

I am so very grateful for the life John and I have created, and very excited for the life that we still want to create together. 

Post Christmas Party

What a fantastic week we have had!

Rachel, Brent, Ben, Kat and their kids came down and joined us for a couple of days and we are so glad that they did.  They turned boxing day into a real party!!

As if we hadn't had enough to eat in the three days leading up to boxing day - we decided this would be the perfect time to have a Turkey dinner.   We ate, played games and visited long into the night.  My kids were delighted to have some cousins to play with!   

On the 27th, we all went to the school gym and played around for a bit, had lunch at Dairy Queen, and then played games/relaxed until everybody left for home.

 It has been a week long celebration here and nothing makes a party better than family!!!

Christmas Day Drive...

Christmas Day is typically super chill around these parts, and being the creatures of habit that we are, it always plays out in the exact same way.  

First:

 The kids wake up and excitedly gather to cuddle/visit until Grandpa's 8:00 am arrival.   

Once Grandpa is here, the kids race into the living room, breaking through the wrapping paper barricade and head straight for their stockings.   (This year I did do something a little different.   I wrote a letter to each of my kids sharing some of the things I have enjoyed about them this year and encouraging them to remember the true meaning of Christmas.  I like the effect this had on our morning and I just may write them a letter for their stocking every year now;)   

Second:

After stockings comes the presents, of course!   I struggle every year to know what to get my Father in law for Christmas.  Theoretically each of his kids combine funds to provide him with an experience of some sort, but that tradition seems to be waining a little.   I always feel the need to make sure there are presents under the tree for him, but what do you get the man who needs little but deserves so much more than I could ever give?   It's a major conundrum every year.  

This year we gave Grandpa a basket of milk chocolate treats, some work/garden gloves with extra grip,  a book of Mormon study guide that him and John have been interested in, and three tickets to see our local theatres summer productions.  

Third:

BREAKFAST PIZZA!!!!!

Not sure why I didn't take a picture of that beautiful Christmas tradition.   I must have been in a slacker mood on that morning;)   It is one of my favorite things about Christmas.

Fourth:

Our annual Christmas drive to Waterton!  Not to be confused with our monthly drive to Waterton, our Christmas drive  always happens on the afternoon of Christmas day, always includes Grandpa, and usually proves to be a great time for animal watching.   This year we drove past a a massive herd of Elk and watched three large dogs (I like to think they were wolves) play on the frozen lake.  

  

 It was a very frigid afternoon with gusting winds, but as per tradition, we just had to pose for a picture or two before heading home.   

Fifth:

The rest of the day was spent playing with gifts, reading and playing board games together. 

It's the same story every single year, but it is a story that I NEVER get bored of.   

Love this holiday time with my family.

Christmas Adam and Christmas Eve

Christmas Adam is a thing in our home.  Is it in yours?

It's a play on words you see (because "Adam came before Eve?") that justifies us beginning our Christmas celebrating one day early!!!    

We usually have our massive Seafood extravaganza on Christmas Eve, but seeing as that fell on a Sunday this year (and we'd have to buy our seafood fresh) we decided that Christmas Adam, aka December 23rd, would be our big night to party.   And boy oh boy, what a party it was!!!

John and Grandpa went into Lethbridge Saturday afternoon to get the goods and by the time they got back, we had taken care of everything else needed to ensure that Christmas Eve Adam played out exactly as it always does each year.

We had the Lobster.  (An 8lb lobster to be exact) 

We had the giant Crab.

We had the Crab Legs.

We LOVED the Savory Clams.

We balanced all that out with some steak, potato wedges and shrimp cocktail.   

It was an absolute feast!

My kids get a kick out of watching our kids each year.  They're always very diligent in naming their crustacean friends prior to eating them.    Every year we make John have the honors of shelling it all (an honor equivalent to carving a turkey, no?) which kept him pretty darn busy for a good hour or two.   By the time he was finished, we'd had all of the seafood our happy little bellies could handle and even some to spare for our new favorite seafood chowder the next day.   

If you can't tell - it is pretty much all about the seafood around these parts;)

Can't think of a better way to kick off the next few days of Christmas celebration!!

We spent the morning of Christmas Eve at church.  Well, technically not the whole morning - just an hour of it as our Church meetings were reduced to just the sacrament meeting block. 

 I love it when that happens!

It was so nice to celebrate Christmas Eve on a Sunday.  There was no shopping to do, nowhere to go, and the perfect amount of time spent at church remembering and singing about the birth of our Savior.  It really was so very pleasant!

That evening Grandpa joined us again for Max's Seafood Chowder (it's a recipe I made up but we call it that because without Grandpa's contribution of seafood- we wouldn't ever have it;) chicken wings, crackers, cheese and other fun horderves.   

After pigging out on food for the SECOND night in a row, the kids wanted to exchange the gifts they'd purchased for each other.   This provide some interesting moments.  

Nate gave Abby a jewellery case, chocolate bar and a sketch art kit.  

Jess gave Sam five dollars, one quarter, and a case of slime.  She stuffed all of that into a balloon, as if her gift wasn't already random enough!  haha;)

Sam gave Nate three fidget spinners.   Not one - but THREE!  Nate pretended to be surprised with the second two. 

Abby took Jessica's little blue Ukelele and painted/sealed a darling flower pattern onto it.   It actually looks darling and speaks to the hippie within Jess.  

Of course the kids had to receive their annual Christmas Jammies.

We had to do our annual drive around town with Grandpa to look at Christmas lights.   

And what would Christmas Eve be without our annual watching of the Polar Express.  (The home we are currently renting has a wood burning stove which made for extra cozy movie watching)

As always, Nate and Jess fell right to sleep after the movie without any delay, while Sam and Abby did their best to wait up long enough to help set the gifts under the tree.   They thought it was great fun to get to be a part of that this year!

John and I stayed up only long enough to fill the stockings and then we too went to bed, feeling hopeful that the kids would like their gifts the next morning.  

 I adore the anticipation of Christmas Eve.  

It was a fun couple of days!

Christmas Joy

Jessica announced to us a week or two ago that she no longer believes in Santa Clause.  

She's non believer now as well.

A muggle, if you will.

It breaks my heart a little bit, but I take comfort in knowing that I still have one child clinging to the magical mysteries of Christmas.    I suspect that deep down he does know that John and  I am really the one behind his presents, but he seems to sense that the presents flow so long as you believe.  It's common knowledge around here that once you stop believing - you start getting socks for gifts.   

Seeing as he is our last (sorta) believer, I am trying maximize every opportunity to help him feel the magic; therefore, the infamous Christmas Elf has returned to our home this year.   

This whole Elf on a Shelf thing is a lot of work! 

I love love LOVE Sunday afternoons in December when John sits down at the piano to play some Christmas music.   He plays right up until the moment that I need him to cut the meat for supper and his music always adds a sweet, reverent feeling in our home. 

After a month of Autumn like temperatures and absolutely NO snow at all- winter finally arrived, and just in time for Christmas too!!

John got the idea (where does he get these ideas?) to point the snow blower to one spot on our front lawn making a giant snow pile.   The next day Jess and Nate hollowed that baby out to create a snow Igloo/Quinzee.   Nate is still upset at us for not letting him sleep outside, but unfortunately with the snow came -30 degree temperatures too!!

Earlier in the month Nate performed in his first ever Christmas Choir concert!   

Of course, he did fabulously well:)   It was fun to watch him sing each song with so much heart.

  His choir teacher is a remarkable woman to put up with little holligans like this;)

 It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season!

 Jess was in the mood to make some Christmas cookies one day, so I told her all about these yummy Candy Cane ones that a friend of mine had made.   Jess immediately went to work, making the dough and rolling them into balls all by herself.   Part way through the process she sampled her creation only to discover that she had added 1/4 cup of SALT rather than 1/4 teaspoon.   Yowsers!!!

She got an A+ for effort though;)

Every year one of the wards in our Stake put together a live Nativity.   This year my nephews Oscar and Chaim were Shepherds.  It was a super chilly night, but nothing a little bit of Hot Chocolate couldn't remedy;)

 Waterton Lakes National Park has not opened any roads/trails for Cross Country skiing this winter (boo), which has forced us to find more local options.    John and Jess and I have been exploring the Golf Course and newly made trails down by Lee Creek and have been pleasantly surprised.   

These trails could make for some fun wintery weekends!

It's been a dreamy weekend here. 

  Can't wait to update on the Christmasy goodness!!

Linnet Lake kinda day

Jessica is a doll.   An absolute doll!!

(It's important to state that right off the bat.)  

A couple of weeks ago, I'd had a really rough week.   Nothing major, just a real "down on myself" sort of a time and as the week drew to an end, I found myself discouraged, depleted and about ready to have a pre- Christmas meltdown of epic proportion.  

I got home from work that Friday afternoon to a cute, dimply faced little girl who desperately wanted to go to Waterton.   

Just a few minutes later - John, Jess and I were on our way!

I've only been out to the park a couple of times since the Kenow fire but every time I go, I see a little bit more beauty and I am increasingly encouraged.   There was not a lot of snow up there, but it was cool and windy enough to require that we bundle up nice and warm.

Waterton brings out Jessica's biggest and brightest smiles;)

Though the mountains are probably packed with snow now (thanks to a week of heavy snowfall) it was pretty bare and dry during our visit.   We opted for a stroll around Linet Lake because, well, it's pretty much the only short stroll we could do within the park boundary.  

 I keep hoping that trails will be opened up this spring, which may be wishful thinking considering the amount of dead fall and precariously trees that still dot the landscape. 

  

I think there is something rather pretty about the blackened forests though. 
It's sad and all, but there is something really inspiring about watching nature grow back.  

I love noticing stubborn green blades of grass break out through the charred ground, the red wintry berries that provide a stunning and hopeful contrast, and the signs of wildlife returning to the park.   

Mother Nature really is so splendid. 

Whether through a brilliant display of destruction, or a breathtaking sign of healing and regrowth - this world of ours really is a beautiful force to be reckoned with.  

This day was exactly what the Doctor ordered!

Sisters who eat chocolate together...

Earlier in December my sisters and I got together for a super Saturday of sorts.

The task at hand?

CHOCOLATE MAKING!!!!

We arrived at Jewel's bright and early expecting to be done in just a few hours.  

(That was funny;)

It was great fun watching Jess, Abby, Mya, Ava and Brooke roll and dip. 

We even let our boys help for all of ten minutes!  (They just didn't seem to have the same careful approach, you know? ;)

For three sisters that live in the same town, we really don't get together very often, so it was nice to have a whole day together to visit and catch up.  

And there is nothing wrong with a table full of a gazillion fancy chocolates, now is there?

Nope.  Nothing wrong with it at all!

A mere 8 hours later and we were done.   

A bit tired, a little sore and more than full of yummy food and sugary treats.   

I'm more convinced than ever that "sisters who eat chocolate together - stay together!"