You'd be sad too if you couldn't poor the ketchup by yourself!


This is a shot of Sam that I have wanted to take for a long time! Usually when Sam is upset he is not so subdued, sad, sweet looking. You'll have to click on the pic to really see how sad he is. In the moments that I've seen him like this I always feel torn. Do I run and get the camera or sweep him up in my arms and cuddle with him. I opted to get the camera:)

Today was a busy day. John's official FIRST DAY of summer. How better to spend it then cleaning the garage, yard work and even washing the van. I had to take a picture of the front of the van to show all the poor bugs that have perished because of us.
I couldn't help but think about our upcoming vacation.


The next time I wash our van- we'll be cleaning up AMERICAN bugs!!!

What four kids do when they are bored...

They play Chess of course. And when they aren't playing chess you might find Sam hunting on some back country road somewhere.



They're a pretty rustic group of kids!

What's GROWIN' on around here

Our garden is coming along beautifully. You might remember me writing about how my Father-in-law helped me plant the first half of the garden. It's a safe guarantee that anything he touches will grow. The second half John and I planted on our own and I wasn't quite as optimistic. I'm happy to report the only thing we are waiting on now is our row of bell peppers. Yeah!!!! These pictures don't really show how well the crop is coming but take me my word for it - our garden kicks butt!! :) I'm not trying to brag or anything. It's not like I'm doing anything special to it, just the usual garden maintenance - watering...weeding...you might find me lovingly stroking the odd leaf or two...singing to the plants perhaps...that sort of thing. Whatever the reason it has taken off. Therefore we've gotten greedy and decided that it's time to make things even bigger. Here's a picture of John adding 15 more feet.

Everything is in bloom and I love it!





An old roommate of mine came into town today. Her family joined mine for lunch and then we babysat for them while they went to a session at the temple. It was fun to reminisce about the old days. I loved attending school in Edmonton, and living with so many awesome girls over that four year period. I once sat down to count the number of roommates I'd lived with in total and it was at least 34. (35 if you count my brother who was homeless for one summer and secretly spent the nights up in the attic room.) Now, I only ever lived with 13 girls at one time, but some of those girls I sure grew to love! It was fun to see Karen today.




My sister in law Rachel has just gotten engaged. She let me take a couple of pictures of her and her fiance and let me tell ya, I had the FUNNEST time doing so. I probably had more fun then them, so kudos to the cute couple for putting up with me. We bought a swanky camera months ago and I'm just barely starting to learn how to really use it. But oh boy I'm having fun! Sure it helps when the subject your shooting is as beautiful as Rach is - how could a pic of her go wrong eh? (Hopefully she doesn't mind if I post some)
So I'm wanting to start taking more photos and learning more about this whole photography thing. Ideally my main interest is wildlife and landscape photography. However due to the fact that I'm extremely afraid of wildlife encounters I may have to settle for learning how to take a killer family photo instead. So if any of you are wanting some family pics, I'm wanting some practice. It'd be free! Totally amateur and mediocre...but free;)

A Whole LOT of fun and a plane crash

One of the highlights for our family this past week was the soccer tournament. Why was this a highlight? Well, because it means we are done! Abigail enjoyed being on a team this year, though she struggled at times when others scored and she didn't. She improved so much though, and during her last game she scored 3 goals!! Great job Abby. John and I enjoyed coaching, but it will be nice to have our Monday evenings back.
What a fun group of kids:)










Yesterday John and I decided to take the kids on their first "Real" hike. We brought two of our nephews along, who are pretty great hikers, and we knew having them along would make it more enjoyable for Sam and Abby. Sure enough the kids LOVED it. We did Blackiston. It is a very short, very EASY hike to some great Falls up by Red Rock Canyon. It was the perfect choice for my three first timers!
Here they are all enthusiastic to begin.


Overlooking Red Rock. Doesn't that look so nice. It was so hot and I wanted to go play in that water so bad. What I didn't want though were the other kids joining me. :)) (That would have been an adventure! Maybe with a few more adults to supervise sometime.)



Caleb took this photo for us at the falls. I was so glad the balcony was enclosed with fence. Sam would have loved to get a little bit closer. I could tell he wanted in that water! How is it that kids can be afraid of something imaginary (like a monster under their bed), yet when confronted with real danger, such as a cascading and crushing waterfall, all they want to do is get closer? That's Sam for ya, I guess.




Speaking of Sam, he managed to do the entire hike while carrying his toy Bow & Arrow. He walked with that Bow slung over his shoulder and the whole time would mumble something. Every once in awhile we'd hear, "Bear." "I do it." "Kill him." Apparently he sensed my caution about bears and felt the need to protect. Needless to say the bears stayed far away.



When we got back to the waterton town site we met up with some of John's siblings for dinner by the lake. It was a beautiful calm evening. The kids enjoyed making this lean to.

The parents enjoyed visiting. And then...tragedy struck.

You may recall in previous posts me talking about John's love for flying remote control airplanes. It's his brother Jordan who got him hooked on the hobby and ever since then these planes have been the activity of choice for John and his brothers. So last night Jordan is flying his plane and keep in mind he's pretty good at it. We're enjoying the show, watching as Jordan flys it over the lake and chases people passing by in motor boats etc. It was pretty fun to see, and John was debating whether to send his plane up her not.



All the sudden, (this is the tragic part), the plane nicked a tree limb and went plummeting into the lake. My initial instinct was to laugh my head off, but...oh wait..I did!




In hindsight, it really is kinda sad. (For Jordan that is) The plane shorted out and may need to be replaced entirely.

Jordan we are sorry for your loss! That was a very sad way to end a really great day!

Waterton Wildflower Festival

Today I attended a Sketching along the Trail course in Waterton. It was a morning long course that is held annually during the parks Wildflower festival.

The fun began on the way out, when I got held up by this:



Gotta love a good ol fashion down home cattle drive. Something about seeing all those cows walk along the yellow line- made me laugh for the rest of the trip!





As I reached Waterton I was amazed at how calm and pristine everything looked. It was the perfect day. Half way up the Red Rock Canyon Rd I saw standing right on the side of the road two very large Moose! Meese? Mooses? ...whatever. They were large and amazing and apparantly not too camera friendly because as soon as I pointed my lens at them - they were gone. Drat! This was the only pic I managed to get.




The course was amazing. A local artist led a group of us around Lost Horse Creek. We found meadows, and valleys of amazing flowers. She left us to ourselves to sketch whatever we chose and she would just go from person to person giving tips, advice etc. I learned lots about utilizing the "source of light" when I paint or draw, as well as excercising my ability to focus on the negative space surrounding a given subject.

I took lots of photos. The instructor talked about the importance of photographing as much as we can so that we will have images to refer to for accuracy etc in future work we do. This type of a collection that artists build up is apparantly called a "morgue." I spent some time before I left trying to build up my own morgue. It was fun to use the camera a bit. These were some of my favorite pics taken today.

What a great day! It was the perfect way to relax, unwind and get in touch with the things I really enjoy. I came home feeling like I'd spent the day at the spa or something. :) Only I reckon it was better!

Just wanted to...

post a couple of pictures from last week. I've been busy. Last weekend the town threw a carnival of sorts for the kids. There were crafts, performances, magicians, hotdogs, cotton candy and all kinds of games in the back parking lot. The kids enjoyed the giant sand pile.

Sam and his cousin Libby
Sam and Libby have become quite the little partners in crime. "Masters of disaster" if you will. Actually they don't cause much harm. That is - unless your name is Jessica, and then you are in for it. They love to follow Jess around for the most part torturing her:) I love seeing little kids (who can barely) talk - plot and scheme. You know - "work together" and all.

Abby was thrilled to be a mermaid for a moment


This is Sam's "please don't pester me while I'm eating" look


"All dressed up and nowhere to go"

Actually we did have somewhere to go. This was five minutes before church. The kids were all ready to go...early! Had to get a picture of that momentous occasion.

Happy Fathers Day to all you DADS!

It wouldn't be Father's Day without celebrating the most important "Dad" in my life - the father of my children. I don't know what to say about John that wouldn't sound corny. The kids adore him and he has this amazing ability to just PLAY with them. Sure he likes to get the kids all riled up and hyper before bed - but (despite the fact that I shake my head in frustration)- it is one of my favorite moments of the day. I have no doubt that one day, when our kids are all grown up, they will look back and feel gratitude for all that John is and was for them, as a Dad and a Man. He's better then me in every way. Happy Fathers Day hun!


I also am blessed to have an amazing Father in law who teaches us daily about service. He has such a good heart and truly desires to do good for others. He has been my mentor this past couple of months as I've begun my garden and he has patiently tried to pass on some of his skills! Our kids are lucky to live close to him. Right now he is visiting some of his grand kids in the states. We hope you have a great fathers day grandpa!



I spend lots of time on days like this thinking about my Dad. It is weird to me how all those years growing up- I never really appreciated all that my Dad did for me. Now when I think of him I have the fondest memories of family outings, traditions, and sacrifices that he made for my siblings and myself. I wish I could tell him how much I love and ADMIRE him!

So make sure you all phone your Dad's today and let them know how great they are.

It's a wrap!!

It is that time of year when lots of things seem to be drawing to an end. That is what this past week has been about for us. Celebrating "last days"... finishing projects...making needed repairs. It's felt good to get some of that out of the way.

Abby had her last day of preschool on Wednesday. She has enjoyed it so much this year, and her teacher has been amazing. Abby is incredibly social and sometimes even ...silly. As a mother, I was especially grateful for the patient and accepting approach her teacher took with each child. Abby truly felt special. She finished the year with a clown party, a diploma and a CD of memorable moments throughout the year.


I completed my latest painting. This is the first painting I've done under the tutorial of a painting teacher and I learned so many techniques while working on this that I would never have thought of on my own. It's been fun, and it has rekindled the enjoyment part of this hobby for me.


John is nearing the end of his school year. In fact yesturday marked the last day of his actually classes. Do you know what that means? NO MORE PREPPING LESSONS late into the evening. Sure he has a couple more days of giving exams, marking and getting report cards out...but the end is in sight. He's worked so hard this year, and juggled so much. Oh summer! We have big plans for the summer, and I mean BIG but I'll write about that in a future post.

Our little garden is flourishing and I LOVE it more each day. The bedding out plants I planted a couple of weeks ago did not survive. Apparently my thumb is not as green as I thought it was. So, I've just finished planting a new batch of flowers. Begonias, Petunias, and snap dragons now line the west and north sides of our home. Now all of the "planting" is almost near complete. I'm only waiting on some blasted Rhubarb. It is all sold out here in town and we never get to a city. If anyone comes this way...bring some Rhubarb eh!!


A couple of days ago I noticed this giant scratch on our van door. It is about 1 inch long and pretty noticeable. I got some touch up paint color matched and with one quick application our van will almost be like new. I can't stand it when we get a scratch in our vehicles. Initially I blamed this one on all the young men in our ward that John works with. He's always car pooling them somewhere and it seemed like a logical explanation to me. On second thought though, I do recall propping up my garden hoe against the door once as I was running to get the phone. At the time I thought, "yikes, careful Tanis you could have scratched the paint doing that," but I never checked to see if I had. So, sure, yeah, I suppose there is the off chance that this scratch was possibly... maybe... in some way... my doing. Seeing as John rarely ever checks this blog - I feel it is a safe place to confess that. I don't really see the point in mentioning it to him you know? Why drudge up the past anyway?


Nope...I don't think so.

and the lucky winners are...

So this morning we drew names. It has been fun to see who entered this little draw and who is willing to in turn pay it forward to someone else!! Abby helped select the winners this morning. We taped the 9 names to the bottom of each Hullabaloo pad. (If you've ever played this fun kid game you'll understand how the selection process worked.) Basically whenever the kids landed on a winning pad that had a name under it- that person was chosen. So without further ado the winners are:





So there you have it Shauna, Jewel, and Amanda. You three are going to be recieving some of my favorite goodies from my favorite gift shop in Waterton! (Huckelberry Syrup, organic dip mixes, Waterton Special Fudge etc) I can't wait to put it together for you and I'm even more excited to see who you choose to pay it forward to. Good luck!

PS: (Jewel and Shauna I'll get your gift packs to you in person. I just need to know Shauna when you are going to be in town eh? Amanda- facebook me and give me your mailing address)

Paying it forward ->

A friend of mine just had a contest on her blog that I won! Imagine that. I NEVER win. (Well except for that time when I was eight years old and I won a set of steak knives) Yeah...I think my luck ran out after that;) Until today that is!

Now the idea behind this contest is great, in fact it isn't really a "contest" as it is a "draw." Since my name was one of the ones selected, I receive a prize of Joanna's choice (which I'm totally excited about by the way), and now it is up to me to Pay it forward and give a prize of my choice to three other people. Now I've also seen this done where the winners are expected to either give something or DO something good for three other people.

So here is the idea. Anyone interested in winning a prize - and I'll think of something good - leave a comment at the end of this post by the end of the week. On Sunday I will have Abby randomly select 3 names and those people will receive a little something, hand delivered or via mail if you live far away, from yours truly. AKA...ME! If you are one of the three chosen it will then be your turn to ... you get it- pay it forward to three others.

Cute idea. The only question is, ..."Do you feel LUCKY!"

Because Sunday isnt busy enough

...Abby decided 1 hour before church that she wanted a haircut. It was probably time for a change. It was the quickest haircut I've ever given.

Shoulda been a cowboy...

This morning we got up with good intentions of taking the kids hiking in Waterton. However when we saw the rain clouds settling in we decided we'd better finish our garden. So we quickly got the beans in, as well as a row of assorted bell peppers. I'm excited to see if they turn out.

I often struggle, as a mother, to let my kids get in and "help" with the work. Especially when it comes to my garden, I'd much rather keep the kids far OUT of it. After dinner, I can clean up much faster if I clean alone, often the thougth of getting Abby or Sam to help just seems tedious. I think I'm missing the mark and I truly want to teach my kids about the value work, but let them trample through the garden? Seriously? So my compromise is this:





I got this idea from a another mom, and I liked it instantly! We've made a garden plot for the kids. THEY had to choose what they planted. THEY had to plant it. THEY will have to weed it and hopefully something will actually grow. That way we both win right?

There is something about planting and growing that makes me so happy!
When I was growing up I used to always say that I wanted to marry a farmer. I'd grown up in a farming community. My grandpa was a farmer, and I felt that I would have made a good "farmers wife." I often pictured myself taking supper to the hubby out on the tractor, and that seemed like such a charming life.

Well it didn't exactly happen that way, though I do enjoy being the wife of a physics teacher. We've spent a couple of evenings this past little while eating at some friends homes out in the country. It is so enjoyable for us to leave the town limits behind us and venture out onto the backroads. We visit with our friends, and stay way too long just soaking up the relaxing feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. The kids enjoy it too.



These little miniature horses are full grown! Isn't that crazy? Abby, Sam and Jess had their first horse ride. They played with cats, dogs, and horses, even a little calf once!

The whole way home last night, we talked about how fun that life would be. Often, I can't help but smile, when I watch John. I think somewhere deep down inside of him is a cowboy at heart. Maybe one day you'll find us somewhere in the hills- me sitting on our front porch or out in our garden. John will be bringin in the cattle or something. Perhaps that is why he has a bullwhip. I've always wondered...

Visits with the family

Our trip to Calgary was a blast. It was great to see Crystal and to spend some time with her beautiful family. The kids LOVED being there. Her oldest boy Chaim is getting so big and he sure did well with having three VERY rowdy kids invade his space. What a trooper.


One day the kids and I went to visit my brother Chad and his wife. Let me tell you something about his wife Heather. Every time we go she is always whipping up the most amazing food. I mean... good! So naturally I felt inclined to stay...oh all afternoon and evening. Perhaps they had other plans? I'll never know. We spent the day drinking "Roy Rogers" and watching old episodes of the Office. We did take a nice break though to slip away to Walmart. I always feel so good there!!! After that it was right back to the couch for more episodes of the Office, only this time we were drinkin "Mojitos" and eating chicken salad. Is that not the perfect way to relax? The kids? Oh yeah...they were fine...uh playing...or something. ;)


This is the amazing drink called a Mojito. I plan to make lots this summer!


We crammed a lot of shopping into our stay up there. I took the kids to see my Mom and Dad's grave one afternoon. One day we stopped by Peters Drive Thru for some milkshakes. My Dad often took us to Peters and it was fun to see how popular it still is. I ordered 4 shakes for us all. For some reason I don't think the kids quite appreciated how amazing these shakes are. Perhaps that is because they didn't have the sucking power to actually get anything OUT of the straw. Poor kids sat their slurpin and slurpin and never could get a taste. Well that was great. Only $15 worth of milkshake and they were barely even able to enjoy it the way your supposed to. Oh well, it was a nice thought. You can't put a price on that!

We were able to visit with John's brother Ben and his wife Katherine. Abby and Sam were so excited to be there I don't think they stopped chattering the entire time.
Anyways fun time in the city. We loved seeing so much family and are so grateful for all of their hospitality and kindness. It's nice to be home.

City folk for the week

So the kids and I just got to Calgary a short while ago. My three are SOO happy to see their little cousin Chaim and my newest nephew "Oscar" is such a doll!

It was a longer trip up here then I'd planned. I got a little distracted as we drove through Claresholm. That is where I grew up and I rarely stop now to even notice all that has changed. Today I couldn't help but do a couple of MANIES and circle the town a bit. Old Fox Drive Thru is closed-hopefully not for good. They served the best fries with the tastiest sourcream and chive dip. The outdoor pool has been filled in. IGA- the place where I first learned about the value of a paycheck- has become SOBEYS. The local Bakery is gone. That perhaps was the saddest discovery for me. Growing up it was such a highlight to stop in there and choose one of an assorted variety of long johns. They were the BEST!! Now it is a liquor store. I didn't dare sample anything. ;)

I past by the post office and laughed at how small the wheelchair ramp is. We used to race up that puny little thing? Similarly the hill at the Elementary school is just a mound of dirt. When did that stop being a mountain? As I headed out of town i noticed that the roadside restaurant formally known as the Cedar Gardens is now simply named "Saloon." The Cedar Gardens was a family favorite growing up. A place where we often enjoyed both Chineese AND Western cuisine at the same time. Infact it was a tradition of ours on certain Sundays to skip church after sacrament meeting and go out to eat. Now we were good church goers who were raised to keep the sabbath day holy. However, on fast Sunday we happened to be exempt from that rule. Or atleast we thought we were. One of the things about my Dad I now LOVE! He was so funny.

Well from Claresholm on to Calgary the trip was rather tedious. Jessica has figured out how to wiggle the straps and crawl out of her carseat. I was constantly pulling over to force her back into. Finally I ended up switching her and Sam. She has yet to figure out Sams! It reminded me at times of a magician trying to get out of those long ropes of chains. Jessica was good - but can she do it underwater? It didn't help that there was a cop who stayed right next to me the entire time. He wouldn't break 100 km/hour and so neither would I. I think he was just waiting for me to speed. It was so frustrating. I've NEVER driven to Calgary that slowly before!!!

When we FINALLY entered city limits I couldn't help but feel the same excitement I always do when I come up here. Abby must have felt it too because she got all dramatic...sighed and said, "Oh mom...the city looks so beautiful!"

"Yes Abby," I said. "The city is a marvelous place."
Heaven help our bank account!!

The past few days and a little baby too!

Here are some photos we've taken over the past few days. The most notable event (for me at least) has to do with my garden. Things are growing! A few weeks ago my Father-in-law helped me plant half of the vegetables. He taught me how to plant potatoes, corn, peas, carrots, red beets, swiss chard, and two kinds of onions. We pruned our raspberry bushes and transplanted our rhubarb at that time as well. To my delight I'm actually seeing some results now.


This weekend I planted more on my own. It was a personal test in a way, to see if I'd learned anything from Max. (the ultimate gardener) I planted pumpkin, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, parsley, dill, and cucumbers. (I still need to do beans and peppers.) One frustrating moment occurred when I had to plant the cucumber. The instructions said to plant 6-8 seeds/hill. I think I sat there for 1/2 an hour wondering what exactly a "hill" was. So I set to work building up dirt. Making just that...Hills. So there in my garden was one row consisting of 7 big hills. In each hill I dropped the required number of seats and went on my way. Later as I was conveying this to my Father in Law I realized that I really didn't need to do all that work. He showed me how he planted the seeds and he was very kind about it-though I couldn't help but see the smile on his face as he tried not to laugh right out loud at me! Still, we spent some time pondering why they are called "hills" to begin with. Perhaps that is the way people used to plant them...or still do. Despite the fact that he thought it'd probably be just fine the way I'd done things, I went home and dug out the seeds and smoothed down the dirt, and started over. I wonder if my HILLS would have worked though. Any gardener out there know?






We went out to waterton yesterday and played tennis and enjoyed some yummy pizza. This shot of my sister-in-law Rachel made me laugh. Everyone was so good at tennis! Everyone but me of course. I felt like I was in Jr. high again all insecure and nervous about serving the ball;) It was my first time!! Great fun though, and it's a sport I'd love to get really good at. Better keep practising!

A couple of Sam...


While we were at the park I kept trying to get Sam to wear a hat. With his bald little head I was so afraid of a burnt scalp, I was chasing him down half the time. The little stinker realized that if he ran inside this play apparatus I wouldn't be able to catch him. So there I was circling this play thing and every time I got remotely close to him-he'd skitter to the other side. When I would awkwardly try to climb in to get him he'd scurry out leaving me hanging. Oh to be that small again!!!



His uncle Jordan bought this cheap little gun from the dollar store. Sam was in heaven that night as his uncle set up stuffed animal targets and apparently taught Sam how to be a hunter.




The best news of all this week came with the arrival of my newest little nephew.With my sister living in another city-I've not been able to see the little guy yet. It is killing me. I want to see him SOO bad, and my brother chad has been quite proud to point out that he got the first scoop when it came to publicising pics of the cutie.

Luckily he posted some of the pics he took of the little guy. So the following photo is one that I stole from HIS blog. I hope there isn't any copyright issue there...? I'm so jealous that Chad got to see him already. sob:( Great picture though hey! Cute kid!


We are SOO happy that everything went well. Congratulations Crystal and Jeremy - we wish we could be with you right now!


Welcome to Earth OSCAR RANDALL!!!!!!!!!!