October highlights

We spent a lot of time in October trying to socialize radar. 

He doesn't always play well with other doggies. It was nice to get to steal Nala one day for a walk along the Chief Mountain Highway. 

The kids are still loving the "dog life" and I've been impressed with their efforts to still take care of Radar!

(So far, it's not falling on John and me!)

I made several attempts in October to make a clementine cake. We LOVE the movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and I've always wondered what that cake Walter Mitty likes so much, tastes like. Turns out, we will have to keep wondering!

It's a strange cake, made without flour, that requires boiling oranges and for some reason, after three attempts - I still couldn't get it right. This was the closest I'd gotten to it looking okay, but it turns out, those aren't oranges I used - but GRAPEFRUIT! (This definitely gets filed in the "fail" category.)

Jess and I were in the mood for a drive one day and we were feeling nostalgic so we decided to drive to Claresholm to see if my brother and his family were at their farm. They weren't, so we stayed for all of 5 minutes, but it was nice to get out of town for a bit. 

When my brother-in-law heard that Abby was coming down, he booked me and the girls in for pedicures together. Who does that?!  None of us had ever had pedicures before. It was fun!

October and November both produce spectacular sunrises and sunsets. 
We've had some breathtaking mornings, this past while!

Jessica just finished a good season of Volleyball and learned this past weekend that she has made the Basketball team!  

Life doesn't seem to be slowing down for her OR anyone these days. 

How has this year gone by so quickly!!

Halloween

 I love/hate Halloween.

I love the crisp autumn feeling, the apple cider, caramel apples, and handing out candy to the most adorable trick or treaters. 

What I hate though - is trying to make sure that my kids, my hubby, and  I all have something to dress up as. This task used to be a lot more challenging, mind you because my kids used to actually need my help with it all, but still, it just kinda nags at me. Where I used to have to spend days and days sewing and creating elaborate concoctions for them all, now I spend days and days pleading with them to settle on an idea, in case I need to sew, create or concoct. 

As it turned out - 

Jessica and her friends went as gangsters, so...not a huge effort was needed. (For Jess, it was more about the vibe than the outfit;)

Sam threw on a pair of pajamas. (Uh...thanks, buddy)

Nate and his friends all dressed as hippies, which apparently thirty other people at the Junior High did as well. (It must have looked like Woodstock in those hallways that day!)

John made his own costume and went as "Major Monogram" at the request of one of his students. John was flattered to be asked to join their group, but only wore his costume for about 20 minutes before leaving for a volleyball tournament. 

I (and two other EAs) went as the Three Musketeers. 

Abby and her roommates dress up as the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars.

I love that she is enjoying her time with her roomies.

And radar- well..he just made me happy all day long.

I think I'll just focus on dressing the dog, in years to come!

Turkey, Larches, Lights & Family

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, this year, mostly because Abby came home to visit! 

It is hard to believe that she had already been away for 6 weeks, by this point.

She got home late on a Friday evening. We ordered wings from Pizza Hut and all sat around the table listening to her share some highlights of her new life in the city. 

The next day we prepared our first Thanksgiving feast of the weekend. We had to have TWO turkey dinners because the plan was to share a dinner with John's sister and her family, but I still wanted Abby to have our normal Thanksgiving dinner here at home too. 

It was tough, you know, all that turkey and stuffing...;)

Dinner #1:

Dinner #2:

After Thanksgiving Dinner #2, John and I took the kids out to Waterton to watch the Elk. It was a really nice evening out there and the Elk were close to the road, which doesn't always happen. 

Abby left for home (well, "home away from home) early on Monday morning, but we still had the day off and the sun was shining. We figured it would be a good day for a hike to Upper Rowe Lake. 

John had been wanting to dip his rod into some water again, and I longed to see some Larch trees, which I'd heard were looking amazing this year. 

John and I both struck out. When we reached the lake, we found that a thin, but an unpenetrable layer of ice had already formed above the water. Poor guy. 

Up until this day, I had heard about Larch trees, but never seen or noticed one before. They are a type of deciduous tree, that looks like a pine tree, but the needles are soft and turn a beautiful burnt golden color (for a short time) in the fall.  I suspect I was a week too late, as all of the needles had fallen by the time we set out in search of them. John and I were thrilled to get to find one, lone baby larch, as evidence that these trees do grow in our area. It was cool- once we found this tree, we began to recognize that all of these other trees around us, that we had assumed were dead, were actually larch trees, after their prime. 

We will have to time things better, next year. 

It was a great hike together, even if we weren't as successful as we'd hoped.

And - as if my Thanksgiving weekend had not already been totally perfect, that night I got a call from a family member, letting me know that the Northern lights were out and visible. 

It didn't matter that I was in the middle of taking a bath, when the call came, I FLEW out of the house and headed straight north, towards Standoff. 

Sure enough- lady Aurora was out.

This was a first for me.  I've been wanting to see the Northern Lights for YEARS!

We don't often get a show this far south, so it was definitely exciting. 

As I stared at the sky that night, I felt overwhelming gratitude for this world and for my family. 

I got to see the sky light up, I found a larch tree that had hung on just long enough for me, and I had the best three days with these people that I love. 

God is always good - but sometimes that truth just hits harder. 

 

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.