September

September brought a return to school, and sports, and work.

Nate entered Junior High this year as a grade 6 student. He is SO excited to be there! 

He spent all summer long collecting and mastering Rubik's cubes. He's obsessed!

Jess just started grade 9, at High School, and couldn't wait to get back to school and start hanging with her friends every day. She's playing lots of volleyball too, which keeps her nice and busy. 

It has been fun to watch her play this season. She's getting better at it every day!

Sam has grown a lot this past summer. He's a whopping 6 ft 2 right now and has gotten crazy strong. 

He's in grade 11 and insists that he isn't skipping class as much as he used to. He worked all summer long at DQ, but recently made a switch to Home Hardware, which he is loving.

John is coaching volleyball and teaching/training all those teenage minds, yet again. 

(Sam gave me one shot to get a family photo on our first day. Funny how this was the best we could do.)

And look who else had her first day!

Here's to a year of learning and growth!

 

Vibin and Thrivin

We have had to adjust to hearing from our girl sporadically, but it's fine.  

I suppose it is fine that we chat weekly now, instead of daily. I'm not bitter about that at all. 

Every now and then, she does find time amidst her studying and playing to throw a few photos my way:

This is Abby with her two roomates. Cuties!

First day of school photos, in her very own apartment!!

Abby often gets together with girls at "The Fortress" and a few guys, too. 

It's nice to see her forming some friendships and to hear about the fun they have.

Look who's mastered the art of bread making!!!  (Looks better than my loaves.)

Sigh...That Edmonton landscape.

If you were to ask Abby how life was going for her up in the big city, she'd probably say, "Oh, it's vibin!" (Not entirely sure what that means, but I think it is a good thing?)

From the shortage of calls and abundance of fun pics.- I'd say she is definitely thrivin!

Good byes and Hellos

As mid-August approached, I knew that my time with Abby in our home was drawing to an end. Her move date (August 25th) was circled in red on the calendar and little piles of things she would need to take with her began to pop up throughout the house. Gulp.

We had often talked about travelling together in celebration of her graduation, but covid and finances (or lack of) prevented us from being able to do something grand. She graciously settled for a weekend trip to Edmonton. We would go up together, drop some of her belongings off at her new apartment, and have some fun along the way. 

Our first stop was in Calgary to visit the Van Gogh display.

It was SO cool!  We visited several rooms, each one immersing us in changing pieces of artwork.

It was inspiring, and I loved being able to share that with Abby. 

At one point, I watched her from a distance as she took notes (I later found out she had been writing a poem) and marvelled that this girl of mine was days away from starting a life on her own. Was she scared?  Had she been adequately prepared? What would she create for herself in the days, months and years to come?

After visiting the art show, we got her a membership at Costco, dined on sushi together, arrived in Edmonton, set up her new room, met her roomates and then she left for an all night party with her newfound friends. I stayed back, in this unfamiliar place that was now her bedroom, and cried myself to sleep. What an emotional game this parenting thing can be!

We made it back to town in time to stop in at Jewel's place where she had gathered all the Rausch cousins together for a final goodbye. With Ava away at school, Mya about to serve a mission, and Mason and Abby both moving up to Edmonton, we had all been feeling nostalgic for the good ol' days of "cousin camps" and get togethers. It was nice to sit in the back yard and reminice and wish them all the best of luck!

We had a great summer with John's sister Rachel and her family, who have just moved to town. The night before Abby left- we stopped Dave's Drive In (where she was working her last shift) and left some inspirational notes on her car.  You know, "Phone your mom often," "Always wipe your face." You know, the most important lessons one would want to pass on.   

We had one last dinner with Abby, Grandpa and the Stevens'.

And the next morning, by 10:00 am, she was gone.

It was a tearful goodbye.

Almost traumatic.

We all felt a sense of finality as we considered the days and weeks ahead without the oldest sibling.

How life for our family would never quite be the same. 

Sam made sure to giver her some specific instructions.

(AKA: a list of things for her to buy for him.)

And then, there were three. 

I wandered around the house, after Abby left, for about two hours and just sobbed. 

Then, I went down to her room (to perhaps feel closer to her) and saw the potential for my very own office space.  A quiet corner of the house where I could get me school work done. 

I still miss Abby a tonne, but I mean- this room has been nice, too.

Hello, Mom cave.

 

Baseball, parties, and old friends!

Some of the highlights from August include:

The town Heritage Days parade. Nate got to walk with our MLA Joseph Schow. He wasn't alone. He got to join his cousin Maddax and his good friend Jacob. We always LOVE parade day!

We joined Crystal and her family out in Waterton one evening. I like Waterton most of all - at night! That's when the wind calms down and the bats come out. Cheezies, chocolate, and good company are all you really need on a summer night. 

It isn't summer for us, without a trip to the city to watch some baseball.

It's always the same: Hot dogs, cheese-covered chips, watching funny games on the jumbotron, and cheering on the bulls before leaving in the 7th inning. We never tire of it!  (Well...until the 7th inning;)

I was able to meet up with some of my favorite former students. 

These girls graduated two years ago. It was fun to catch up with them while sipping licorice-flavored milkshakes and eating fries!

John and I went on a fun date one day in August. We started at the top of Akimina Road, (up by Cameron Lake) and walked down towards Cameron Falls, finding all of the best fishing spots along the way. 

It's cool watching John fish rivers - he sure knows how to read the water. 

We had such fun that day, and so so many cool places, we wanted to share a few of those spots with the kids. One week later, we took Jess and Nate to explore the river, just above Cameron Falls. As long as we kept far from the falls, we were lucky enough to have the prettiest spot to play, all to ourselves!

We found a rope swing that Jess tried to work up the courage to use (the water was cold) and there were plenty of spots to sit in the sun while John fished. 

We loved getting to experience a part of Waterton that we had never seen before!

So Dog gone cute

I don't think that I talk about our "Radar" often enough. 

He has, after all, completely changed our family dynamic. 

We all adore him. (When I say "we all" - I mean the kids and I.)

We love on him before we leave the house.

We gush on him as soon as we return.

We let him follow us from room to room, which he does so faithfully.

We've pretty much set him up to experience FOMO and separation anxiety for the rest of his life, but gosh darn it, he is just so cute. What were we supposed to do? (The adage "there are no bad dogs, just bad owners" comes to mind. ;)

Speaking of "bad owners," we knew that we'd been a little negligent when Radar started running into walls and fences because he couldn't see clearly. 

One long hair appointment later, and it was like we had ourselves a new dog.

It's so nice to see his eyes again!

We are smack dab in the middle of a ten-day period in which Ray Ray has to wear the ol' "cone of shame." 

Poor little guy.  

    

We sure love him!!!

 

A final Adventure

I sure know how to plan our family vacations!

Back in the spring, I had made efforts to secure a campsite (no small feat when a kajillion other people are fighting to do the same thing) in the Kananaskis. We had driven through the area a year ago and were in awe of its vastness and beauty. We knew we wanted to get back.  I managed to get a spot for mid-August, and though I try to avoid camping in August (it's always cooler than July) I figured it couldn't be too cold, right?   

Wrong. 

As we were arriving, cold, wet, fluffy flakes were falling all around us and my hopes of a "summer camp" faded away as I considered the fact that I had not packed anything more than hoodies and toques. 

How did we survive our freezing cold winter-summer camp, you ask?

Well- thanks to the fact that I'd booked a swanky little Trappers tent to stay in - we managed just fine. (Thank you very much!)

I mean sure, there were times when it was so cold that we didn't know what to do for fun, times when we got so cold we just huddled up in the van for warmth, and times when we got so tired of shivering we came close to packing it all in and heading home.

But overall - we managed just fine. 

Mostly because of this guy. 

John was handy to have around (as always), what with his doing of everything, his cooking, and his occasional reminders to us that we were being complete and utter wimps. If it weren't for John - we surely would have called it quites. 

And I'm glad we didn't, because after our brush with hypothermia that first night, the sun came out (doesn't it always?;) and we were blessed with the most perfect 2nd half of our getaway ever!!

How charming is this set up!

K-country (that's what us rustic people call the Kananaskis) is full of picturesque rivers, lakes, mountains, and trails. John would have been happy to fish the whole time. 

If only it were that easy. 

You see, I had this long list of things that I wanted us to experience, and seeing as we had lost a day (re: our near-death experience) we had a lot of ground to cover. 

First off, a small family hike to Troll Falls!

It's a pretty simple hike that took us to a great waterfall that we could walk behind. 

I love waterfalls like this! The funniest thing about this hike though was the troll dolls that were hidden along the trail. There were signs along the way, letting you know that if you found a troll, it was yours to take home. Abby claimed a cute, blue-haired little thing. 

That afternoon, we found ourselves soaking in the sun at Upper Kananaskis Lake.

John (of course) had to try to walk around it, fishing rod in hand. Abby and Jess took the paddleboards out to the island. Sam and Nate tossed a ball on the shoreline and took Radar on walks. 

I just lied there on the rocky shore, covered my face with a jacket, and literally let the sun warm me all the way through. 

Our 2nd night went way smoother (warm, dry clothes work wonders) and we stayed up past dark eating hot dogs, s'mores, and visiting. 

I made sure to remind the kids often that this was our last family vacation before Abby's move to Edmonton. 

Could this really be our last adventure as a family?  

(At least as the family we have been for these past 18 years.) 

Will my four kids ever again pile into the same vehicle to go camping?

Will we ever again cram into one tent together?

Will I ever again get to lay on a shore and listen to the voices of my five favorite people drift over a lake?

 I'm hoping and praying for more days, exactly like these!