Calgary Temple Open House and one awesome Family BBQ!

A few weeks ago, as we learned when the dates for the Calgary Temple Open House were announced, John and I sat down in front of our calendar to see when we could attend with our kids.    I wasn't too surprised when we realized that there was one day, (ONE!) between now and October 20th that John would be able to come.    

So...we booked our tickets for the opening day, and have been looking forward to it ever since!

Not only were the kids excited to see the TEMPLE, which they've heard so much about, but they were absolutely thrilled to get to spend most of Saturday with their cousins.    We stopped at my brother Chad's house for a little pre-Thanksgiving celebration!  

It was fun to catch up with everyone and visit. 

My sister Crystal brought her dog "Kit" - so that meant that I never really saw Jessica the entire time:)

We took some family photos surrounded by the lovely fall colors.

And we ate.

Oh boy, did we eat!!!

My brother had recently purchased a Smoker and spent hours and hours slowly preparing the most delicious smoked brisket EVER!     There was sausage, and Brisket, and pulled pork...Bar B Q Chicken... and all kinds of yummy side dishes.     

By the time we had to leave to go see the Calgary temple, I'd eaten so much I practically had to ROLL myself to the van;)     But it was so worth it!

The rest of my siblings had all been planning to attend the open house at other times during the month, but they'd all decided last minute to attend yesterday as well.
  (In this picture below, several of my nieces are waiting at the entrance to go in:)

It was a pretty neat experience to get to take our kids in to the temple, and we kept trying to emphasize to them how special of an experience it is for them to be able to walk through it.   I think Abby really was genuinely excited and she was often taken aback with the beauty in each room.  

A former roommate of mine was helping to direct the crowds, and it was so fun to get to see her.  Watching her reminded me of a time in Edmonton when that temple was built.   I'd gotten the chance to help at that open house, and it was so neat to see so many people, (even people not of our faith) appreciating the beauty of these buildings!     

By the time we all got out of the temple, it was too late in the evening to make it to the RS Broadcast as we'd originally planned, so instead we went back to Chad's house to eat some more;)

(But of course!:)

The kids would have been happy to stay there forever, but as the sun went down, we started to get ready to leave.   We changed them into their jammies, brushed their teeth, and tucked their tired selves into their car seats for the trip home.    

I couldn't help but feel grateful for all the awesome things we got to celebrate that day.   

A new temple.

Fun times with my family.

And the fact that my own little family was a "forever one."

Where the best "Crafts" go

Back in August, on a hot summer day, Jessica spent most of a day bent over a creation that she'd thought up, all on her very own.     She was driven by the fact that it was her Aunty Jewel's birthday and was fiercely determined to give something awesome as a gift.

   She worked hard to color each face. ....just right!  

Next, she went in search of something that could be used for arms and legs.    

(Only the finest socks would do;)   

And then... I watched, as she struggled to unravel each strip of tape, always tangling it up in her own clumsy inexperienced fingers, then after discarding that tape, trying again.

Until....

Eventually....

She had created this:

(Actually, she created 3 of these um...darling(?) little plate people, and all for her Aunty Jewel!!!  

(Lucky eh?;)   

Now, I have a special place in my house for my kids' crafts like this.  It's literally a box that is tucked away in our crawl space.   Fortunately,  I've hyped it up so much, that my four little chicks burst with pride when I tell them that something they've made is going in "the box!"   

I sure do admire Jewel though.   She made such a big deal of these when she received them, and hung them up in her front entrance.  Right there.  Where anyone, and everyone could see!

What surprises me more, is that to this day, they are still hanging there!  

Either Jewel has yet to figure out how effective a "special" (albeit out of sight) box is, or she just really knows how to make a kid feel great!

No wonder all the kids love her!!!

Look who's a stinker!

Check this kid out:

Not even three years into his life, and he's already learned how to be UNcooperative when having his photo taken.    He actually seems to get a kick out of frustrating me and making things harder then they have to be.   Where do they learn this from?   

Sigh....

I had such high hopes:)

Up on the Roof Top

When our new shingles were delivered last week, I almost did a happy dance,   right there in the cul-de-sac,  for all the world to see.    

Actually, I came pretty close to hugging that kid who delivered them, but looking back, I'm glad that I didn't, because that would have been just plain awkward.

Needless to say, I'm more then a little thrilled that our Hail damaged roof will be fixed before the cold weather sets in.    

Because of the Hail Storm this past July, we are also getting a few new windows put in, as well as new siding.    I've had a hard time choosing the color of siding, and I finally just ended up playing "Eeny Meeny Miny Mo" with the choices.    

John's favorite color won, which is typical. 

He always wins;)  

I Love my life!

It's been quite the week!  I'm pretty sure that the usual craziness that is September finally got to me, because by the middle of the week- I was feeling unusually mean.  (with a capitol M!)   

In fact, by Thursday I had managed to totally tear into one Direct Energy sales rep who'd come to my door (poor kid),   and I'd already delivered "apologetic plates of cookies" to not one, but TWO of my neighbors.    

Can you believe that?  Two of them!!!

I mean, I haven't had to do that since the time I took some "I'm sorry I ran over your Cat - Banana Berry Muffins" to a family who had live a few houses down from us.   

Nope.  Apologizing is never easy, but it had to be done.   Suffice it to say,  I have spent a lot of minutes (like 20 probably) deep in existential thought, vowing to change and be a more patient person.        

Other events of the week worth mentioning:

1.   John has been busy lately, and I've sure missed his beautiful face!

2.   Somebody keeps scratching our vehicles with a rock!  At first, I was blaming my own kids, but they've insisted that it isn't them.  Yesterday we came home from a family outing to find that it had happened again!  Though we've figured out who is doing it, we're still not sure how to best deal with it.

4.  I've had a kink in my neck for the past five days, and can't for the life of me get rid of it.  

5.  On Friday afternoon, I went on a beautiful fall drive with Jessica - taking pictures of all the changing leaves.     With every scene I photographed- I could feel goodness and kindness being breathed right back into my soul,  just like magic!

* On Friday evening we went out to Waterton for a picnic supper with Grandpa.   We LOVE having Grandpa join us, and are sure glad he's willing to enjoy a noisy meal with us every now and then.   After we ate- we attempted to take some photos and explore the maskinonge a bit.  Sam even tried to fish with the fishing rod he made all by himself.     (It's basically nothing but a long Bamboo pole, with some fishing line tied to it;)

We stopped for about an hour to watch the Elk and listen to them bugle, which is pretty much the most enchanting sound ever!

*  Saturday we loaded up the van and went out to walleyes beach for one last afternoon playing in the sand and the water.   The reservoir had gone down so much that we could actually walk across to the Island and explore over there.  We've never been able to do before.   We threw the frisbee around, buried each other in the sand, and soaked up the warm September sun. 

    That evening we got invited over to our friends house to celebrate Mandi's birthday!    It was soo nice to get to visit with her awesome family.    My kids sure love hanging out with theirs, and I'm beginning to suspect that Abby has developed a wee bit of a crush on their oldest boy.   Before we went over, as I was telling the kids what the plan was, Abby looked at me and said, "Yeah...mom, I think I'm just going to talk with Kyle the whole time...you know about our age kind of stuff."
Sigh...she really makes me laugh.    

I came home last night feeling more relaxed then I have in awhile, and as we sat down to watch our evening episode of M*A*S*H,  I snuggled close to John and repeated the four words we so often say to each other- 

"I Love Our Life."

And I really do!  Scratched Vehicles, poorly made apologies and all!

An Autumn Sunset

   

Photos taken from my back Deck on two seperate evenings.

I'm pretty sure that there is nothing more beautiful than an Autumn Sunset.  

When the kids have nothing else to do...

One day last week, in a desperate attempt to keep the kids happy and busy (happy AND busy is a tricky combination) I took them all down to the local Dollar Store and let them each pick a toy.   Abby and Jessica both instantly decided on these little fairy dolls that came in the most awful looking necklace cases.     

For hours after, Abby worked hard building a home for "Sapphire" and "Lavender," and as you can see- it was quite the home indeed:)

She was sure to include a dining area where the two friends could enjoy each other's company and talk about their pets.     (Because in Abby's world- everybody should get to have a pet;)     

Off in the corner of the house were these little booths (aka:  awful looking necklaces) where the fairies liked to go when they, "you know...just need a little bit of alone time."   (Abby's explanation - not mine, though I'm thinking I could use a little booth like this myself now and then;)   

My favorite feature though, was the bed.   Abby worked hard to sew little pillows, stuffing them with batting and sewing up the sides, but then...THEN she went out to the garden to where I had been husking corn earlier, and gathered all of the fine stringy corn hair that she could find.   She then sewed it into a little pouch that made up the actual bed.  

 It was soooo soft.

And- smelled like a bunch of corn!!

Literally.

Three days later, I could smell nothing but the overwhelming stench of compost - so I threw the whole thing away without even telling her.    

But, it was cute while it lasted:)

Not to be out done though, Sam got his hands on some of Abby's batting and came to dinner that night with a "beard" taped to his chin!  

That didn't last very long either, but I admire his creativity!!

Mom Busy vs Dad Busy

Ever have one of those days when your husband walks through the door and you start telling him about your "insanely" busy day and act as though he couldn't have possibly had a day that was busier then yours?

I'm pretty sure that every single day this week was that kind of a day.   More then once, this week, I found myself dramatically proclaiming to John that I would gladly trade him places because  "his busy" seems like a lot more fun then "my busy."  

 I mean really...go hang out with cool teenagers literally all day long or... potty train a stubborn soon-to-be three year old?     It's kinda a no brainer if you ask me;)

Still though- because I am all about being accurate in my claims, I thought I'd compile a list of the things I did this week vs. the things John did this week, just so I really could see which one of us was truly busy. 

 I say, we simply let the SIZE of each list speak for itself:) 

Tanis

* Made 20 bag lunches in total.   (Okay, really just 19 because one day I was lazy and slipped Sam $5 to buy a pizza instead;)

* Went to the grocery store three times

* Re- organized our food storage room

* Watched a little boy every day after school for his mom

* Had the furnace ducts cleaned

* Canned Pears

* Froze peaches (because I couldn't seem to work up the desire to can them)

* Cleaned the entire house from top to bottom

* Re-organized the storage room  (oops already said this, but lets just pretend I did it twice)

* Cuddled with Nathan every afternoon

* Watched the Lorax with Nathan 4 times (I pretty much have it memorized)

*  walked around the temple with a friend

* Made 6 suppers, 6 lunches, and a never ending multitude of snacks because the kitchen apparently is always open;) 

* Went to the dentist 

* Did our monthly assignment and cleaned at the church

* Updated our Budget just because I think it's fun to do

*Finally decided on the color of siding for our home (no easy task;)

* Went on a bike ride to the park with Jess and Nate

* Had about 23 kids over each day to "play"   (Or maybe it just sounded like that many kids)

*   Repaired most of the damage caused by said kids.  

* Folded 6 loads of laundry (albeit while watching my favorite episodes of M*A*S*H)

* Began reading President Hinckleys book Standing for Something for the umpteenth time 

* As previously mentioned, tried to wrap my son's mind around the idea of using a real "potty" and not a diaper.     (pretty much a no-go with that one;)

John

* Went to work every day from 8-5:30

* Coached Volleyball from 5:30-7:30 every day (Except for that night when practice went until 9) 

* Attended young men's   (after spending the day at work and going to practice)

* Had his first Volleyball game of the year and got home close to 10 (they WON)

* Participated in the back to school Parent Teacher Night  (which was held one evening after practice.   ...which was held right after work;)

* Took his team to Lethbridge for a tournament on Friday.  

* Helped Chaperon the school dance on Friday from 9-12 am

* attended the 2nd half of that Lethbridge tournament on Saturday 

Here is what I learned by reflecting on this past week:

1) For all of the complaining that I do, I am really not a very busy person at all.  I am in fact all too often - a bored person:)

2)   For all the complaining John doesn't  do- he really is quite busy.   

I really admire the way John takes it all in stride, and never seems to get stressed or ruffled.  

 Like. NEVER.    

He's really quite remarkable!

But don't tell him I admitted this though.

 I don't want to foul up his humility;)

"Mom. Rules are so over rated."

What a week!

There are a few months in the Calendar that are so busy, it literally takes my breath away at times.    

September is definitely one of those months.    

There is something about the return to school, schedules, bag lunches, volleyball season, and lessons that fills my heart with a bit of anxiety.   Thankfully, this feeling lasts only as long as it takes for us to get it all figured out.   I know in another few days Sam will know exactly how to catch his bus on time, Abby will have figured out just exactly where to get Jessica each day to walk her home, and I'll have gotten used to making bag lunches again.   Day....after day....after day.      

I realized that this had all kinda gotten to me, the other night as I laid in bed at 1:00 am, contemplating all of the "Rules" that I was going to have to put in place for my kids this year. 

   That's right.  At 1:00 am - I was thinking about RULES!    

And then at 2:00 am.

And surprisingly enough - still at 3:00 am.    

I tried waking up John so he could reassure me that everything would be ok in life, but he wasn't too helpful.   Go figure?    So...I worked on my own, into the wee hours of the morning, making a mental note of all the things that needed to change in our family starting right away.    

As soon as the sun rose - I felt a tad bit exhausted but ready to take on the world.   Or, well...at least four cute little components of it.    

Want to know what some of those rules were that literally kept me up all night?   

And yes - these seemed like pressing issues at the time:  ;)

Rule #1:  

Absolutely NO going over to neighbor's houses to play when your friends are not even there.  

 (And no Sam, "so and so's" older brother does NOT count as your friend.  Not cool dude!!) 

Rule #2:   

Whoever is wiping their boogers on the wall - STOP IT!

(I'm tired of cleaning it up, though I highly suspect a certain two year old.)

Rule #3: 

Whoever is tearing the wall paper off of the wall in our front entrance - STOP IT!

(Man, I wish I could figure out who's doing this!)

Rule #4:  

 Whoever is finding the tiny shards of glass and using them to scratch little scribbles on our van door - STOP IT!

(and learn to write properly;)

Rule #5:  

From now on NO friends can come over and play on a school night.   At least, not until you have practiced piano and done your homework.   

(If you don't have homework- I'll make some up for you:)

Rule #6:

No more complaining about having to do "scripture study" each morning.    It just simply not allowed any more.   We do this every single day - there is no need to act so surprised every time we ask you to join us.  

(Welcome to the family.)  

Rule #7: 

Added to the list of words/phrases you are not aloud to say at school/church are:

"You greedy dirt bag"

"Freakin"

or 

words about "Poop"  

*****

So that's it.    Gives ya a pretty good snapshot of what kind of a parent I am what our life is like, now doesn't it?  

As I talked with the kids this week about all that I expected of them, and all that needed to change, Sam looked at me and said, "Mom - rules are sooo over rated."    

Just to prove that I'm not always mean - here's a little video clip from this past week:  

I may have gone a bit over board with the RULES - but we totally let our kids have dance parties while they get ready for school!  

That's totally cool of me - right?

Dear Max

Things just aren't the same around here with out you.   

Every night when we call the kids to supper, they climb the stairs asking, "where Grandpa is?"  And they are still waiting to hear your story about how to butcher a chicken.    

Oh yeah, and your yard was voted "Backyard of the Week!"  You have a sign on your yard and everything!   

We went over one day to take a picture of it for you.  

And....we may or may not have come home with a pail or two of your apples!

PS:  We think you should come home now. 

Just sayin'

The obligatory "First Day" of school photos!

Ah, here we are, at the end of yet another "First Day of School."   

I LOVE this day!    Mostly because, to me, it marks the beginning of Fall, but also because it marks the return of ROUTINE!    

Routine is a beautiful beautiful thing!   

I surprised myself this morning by not being to 'over the top' unlike other years when dropping my kids off at school.   In the past, I would try to meet the teachers, introduce my kids to a few classmates, try to make sure they each had a friend, make sure they'd remembered their individual containers of handsanitizer, AND taken pictures throughout the entire process documenting every moment!

This year- I left the camera at home and simply pointed the kids in the direction of their classrooms with nothing more then a loving pat on the back.  Perhaps I'm calming down in life?  

Mind you, I did still make sure they each had their hand sanitizer with them - (of course;) and I did make them stand for a photo before we all left this house.    

How could I not?

When I told John to stand for a picture he said- "Oh.   You, like...wanna get a picture of everyone?"  

(Translation:   "Do you really think I should have to do this?")

 As I was helping Abby get ready this morning she looked in the mirror and said-

 "Okay Mom.  I really didn't expect to look this cute!"  (That is a sentence I have never personally had the privilage of uttering, but I sure do admire the way she likes who she is:)

When I asked Sam to smile nice for me- this is what he did:

So I said, "K Sam, now give me a nice serious smile."   

So I said...."No really Sam, just ONE nice smile."

Then I said, "Sam, I'm not kidding- just smile nicely." 

Then I gave up.   

(and said a silent prayer for his teacher;)

Now this little cutie just flashed her cutest smile, hugged me about a hundred times and then went and rocked her "first day!"   

Nate was all smiles, until we actually had to start leaving his play mates behind.   He cried after each drop off!

If I didn't know any better - I'd think he wasn't looking forward to spending his afternoons with ME!

Every once in a Blue Moon

Every once in awhile,  as in once in a blue moon, we have a CALM Sunday morning.    

Again, it really doesn't happen often, but there are Sunday mornings when John gets off to his meetings, our evening dinner cooking away in the crock pot, primary stuff is all prepped, and the kids are dressed and ready to go.   

All with time to spare!

In moments like that, I like to just lay on the couch and cuddle with this cutie.   

I like to think of it as "the calm before the storm," because without fail this wonderful moment always ends.

 Without fail, we actually get to church (albeit a bit late) and I end up having to split up a fight in the middle of sacrament meeting, or clean puke off of Jessica's new dress, or fight to collect crayons that rolled three benches away.  

For one brief moment though-    

Sunday was calm.

It's a good thing I've got a picture to prove it!

One last Hurrah before school starts

There were a few things on my to do list for this summer, and for the most part, most of those things we were able to do.   What a busy summer it has been!    In the past 8 weeks we have:

* Participated in Moroni's Quest

* Had a surgery 

* Spent a week in Coeur D'Alene

* Had family up here for a week

* Survived one doozie of a hailstorm

* Built a few fences

* Did some minor excavation in our backyard

* Spent four days at a resort in Montana (and subsequently fell in absolute LOVE with Montana)

* Went to Big Sky with my family

* ate wraps and fries at Dave's about 142 times

* Hiked Bears Hump

* Hiked to Bertha Falls

* Took Swim lessons for two weeks (all kids passed!!!)

* Stayed in Waterton for two nights

* and watched a LOT of movies until way WAY too late at night;)

I'm a little bit tired, and definitely ready for routine, yet somehow still kinda sad that it is all coming to an end.    The past few days have been anxious ones as I prepare for the fall.    The kids are ready to go back to school, there is no question about that, and sometimes I would even say that I am ready for them TO GO back;)    In truth though, I'll miss having them all around, and I'll definitely miss having John around.     

  I finding myself wanting to drag my feet a little more and beg for it all to slow down.    Can't we just have a couple of more weeks of summer before it all begins?

To say good bye to our lazy summer days, we spent Monday out at Walley's Beach.    It was the last place on our "Summer To Do" list to get to, so at least we can say now that we did it all!

It was a gorgeous afternoon!   The kids spent a good hour just swimming in the lake catching weird bugs and minnows.   

And who needs a motorboat when you can just tie a tube to Daddy and make him run fast!  It doesn't take much to make my kiddos happy- that's for sure!

After they grew tired of the water, they moved on to the sand and they each began building a sand castle of their very own!   John takes is sand play very VERY seriously;)    Oh and as always, when I said "Everybody look at me" so I could take a picture...

John and Nate looked (see above photo) and Sam gave his token response:

Here is Abby's creation:   (It's a German Shepard)

Jessica's Creation:   Mystical Mountain

And Sam's work of art:   Bowser!

As we packed up our toys and chairs and headed home, I took a sentimental glance back and couldn't help but wish we could stay right here and pretend that school wasn't about to begin at all.    

Here's to an amazing couple of months!

Moroni's Quest (part II) - Me and a bunch of modern day Abinadi's

Moroni's Quest was almost two months ago!!!  I can hardly believe it.    It seems crazy to me to think that this event took a year of preparation, and then ....it was done.     I have kinda felt lost without it, and I miss having the motivation that this event gave me to study the Book of Mormon.    I also miss getting to focus on these awesome youth that we got to share this experience with.    

Luckily, I was able to get my hands on a few pictures (taken by one of the official photographers) to remind me of some of the awesome moments!  

This was a picture of most of our tribe as we were assembling our travois.   We had known these kids for about an hour by this point, and I was still hoping and praying that they'd like me!  haha

I LOVE this shot!   We spent a lot of time walking that first day, and it provided a lot of opportunity for us to get to know our tribe a bit better.

   I can honestly say that visiting with nine teenagers while walking towards old chief is very VERY different then taking my four kids under the age of 9 hiking in Waterton.     I mean, not a single one of them uttered the words, "Are we there yet?"   ;)

This picture makes me smile, because the photograph captured John's and my tribe, but then behind us you can see my sister Jewel and her husbands tribe.   Cool!

I'm not too sure what it is we are analyzing here, but this young man was one of our tribe members, and I just loved him.  

  One minute he'd have me (and the entire tribe) laughing hysterically, and the next he'd do or say something that had us all feeling the spirit!  When it was time for the reenactment of the Savior's visit, and as we all waited and observed this amazing moment, I kept looking at him and he was absolutely overcome with emotion!  You could just tell that the spirit was touching him and it was like that for all of our tribe.    I'll never forget that.

Oh and this picture belongs here in my online journal, just because of it's sheer hideousness.  

  Yup, I must be crazy to post such an unflattering photo of myself, yet there is something that I kinda like about it.    I must have been telling a really really funny story at the time.    

Wish I could remember it?

Here is a shot that shows the aftermath of one of the many battles we were a part of.    Usually, after one of these battles I would sit in the tall grass, and look around to observe the youth.    It always amazed me every time to see such a large group of youth in such a beautiful setting as this.    I felt so lucky just to get to be a small part of it. 

It was so neat to get to interact with these people (that I normally would never have any reason to ever even speak to really) and to see how strong they all really are.   I remember on the last night together, each ward gathered together for a testimony meeting, and as I sat and listened to the youth in our ward bear their testimonies, I was just so thankful that I got to be there to hear it.    It was absolutely inspiring, and I literally felt as though I was sitting among a bunch of modern day ABINADI'S,  the way they were all testifying of what they knew.   

Such a cool thing, and definitely an experience I'll never forget!

Because I know how much John likes to play in the dirt

We once had this shed.    

It sat in the far corner of our back yard and provided the perfect place for us to store all of our junk. 

(Extra kiddie pools we never used, half a dozen kites...again...that we never used, that sort of stuff.)

One day, I got it into my head that I wanted to get rid of this shed, and I wasn't about to rest until it was gone!

At first we tried to sell it, then we tried to give it away, and finally...I came pretty darn close to trying to PAY someone to come and get it!  

Luckily, someone did eventually want it, and they took it away one evening in June.    

It made us de junk and get rid of all that "stuff" we'd been storing, and it gave John the chance to do a little bit of this:

I'd asked John if he could build a patio where we could have picnics, and marshmallow roasts.

He said- "He'd love to, but shucks, we just didn't have any paving stone."  

So...I got online and found us some paving stone, and told him he could begin whenever he wanted, just so long as it was done in time for the weekend.  (I'm flexible like that;) 

By the end of the week - this is what he'd built!

I think John really likes these projects that I give him to do.  

 Without these little requests, he'd feel all empty and unfulfilled.   

And I like having a spot where we can have our picnics and marshmallow roasts.   

See?   Win- Win!