Throwback Time

This journal entry simply contains a few of the noteworthy moments that I neglected to write about between August and now.   Moments like...

- This afternoon that we spent at Grandpa's house.  

We don't get over to Grandpa's very often (mostly because he comes to us) but when we do we are always amazed at the beauty of his yard.   I mean really - how could one not feel happy in a place like this!

Sam turned 12 in August and John and I were able to spend a Friday afternoon with him and Abby in the temple.  

Abby has been so good about showing him the ropes, taking him to the Family History centre sometimes, helping him find names and making it all seem fun.

We have two darling little neighbors that often like to come over and play with Jessica.  (Who wouldn't want to come over and play with Jessica?;)   

We took a giant leap of Faith this past September and sold our gold Dodge Caravan (lovingly known to us as "Jazzy")   Jazzy was just costing us a little too much each month on repairs so we sold her to a young couple in town and purchased a 2013 Dodge Caravan.   Okay- so clearly this was not a huge leap of faith (going from one very used dodge caravan to a very slightly used dodge caravan) but it was a big freaking deal, Ok!!  It super stresses me out to have to make decisions with our money.  We could have paid the van off entirely, which is a blessing, but we decided to finance a small remaining balance over the next two years.   Now I'm not sure why.  Anyways - it is white.   I've decided that I really like white vehicles.   Perhaps one day t will make it into a journal entry.   Today though- it is just one last photo of Jess and Jazzy.  

Jewel, Crystal and our girls went out to Waterton to watch the annual LDS Women's broadcast alone at the Waterton Chapel.  We were mostly excited to get to scout out the post fire damage.  

There was lots of hustle and bustle as workers were trying to remove debris and prepare to rebuild.   

I've decided to try and photograph out there once a month for a year.  I'm super excited to see what the regrowing process will look like!

Loved spending an evening with all these girls!

Abby is playing Volleyball (Sam is also playing and John is coaching which makes life so busy that it makes me want to stick a fork in my eye) and she is loving it this year!   She's got a coach that expects a lot out of them and works them hard which Abby seems to be responding well to.  

My boys rediscovered the rip stick and long board a couple of weeks back.  I found it ironic that they both went three years without wanting to play with those things at all and then suddenly they couldn't get enough of it.   They spent a couple of days doing tricks in the church parking lot and now the boards are back to collecting dust in the garage.   Such a random little blip of interest.  haha.

While on our trip to BC I had found a had that I loved, loved, loved!!  Sadly, we were in a rush to catch the ferry and John wasn't feeling the whole "lets just buy whatever we see and want" mentality so in an effort to be frugal I didn't buy it.   I spent the rest of the trip regretting that. 

Luckily I found a cheap knock off on line and for $14.99 I almost feel like I have the actual hat I missed out on getting.  Almost.   This will probably sit up in my closet and collect dust much like my boys rip stick and long board - but c'est la vie.   

The kids and I have discovered these giant foam baby heads and had to pick up a couple.  Nate is going as a baby for Halloween.   haha.   Our darling niece Vivian and her family joined us recently for Thanksgiving dinner and the poor girl was freaked out of her mind when Sam walked into the room with one of these baby heads on.  I don't blame her!!!   

We have LOVED the cooler Autumn temperatures, the reprieve of moisture that we've received since the wildfires. 

 We've even been happy for moisture that came in the form of snow - especially considering that we all got a snow day out of it!!!

There is absolutely nothing sweeter in life than a snow day!!

Sam attended his first ever Priesthood broadcast this past month and got to go with his Dad and his Grandpa.   I really love this picture as all of these men seem to share the same straight line smile.  

 I call this Johns "I'm going to a meeting" smile.  

Of course one of those blasted baby heads had to resurface later in the month as well.   

One day John came home from a weekend tournament with Bus #80 - the kids' favorite bus of all!

They spent every minute they could making up all sorts of pretend fun on the bus, until John had to leave. 

This is pretty much the only perk there is to having John coach a Varsity team.   If you ask the kids though they'd all say that a bus for a toy is a pretty great perk.

As mentioned earlier, Rachel and her fam came down to visit and have Thanksgiving supper with us.  It was great fun and absolutely delicious thanks to Grandpas contribution of his famous stuffing and pumpkin pie!

Jessica had made darling little turkey place cards for every family member prior to dinner.  It's her favorite thing to do every time company comes.   I love that little crafter!!

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend was spent helping Grandpa with some of his harvesting. 

Beets, Potatoes and Carrots are out of the ground and stored away. 

We also managed to steal away for a quick drive through the park.   We were so encouraged to see little sprouts of green grass breaking up through the ash.  Oh it could look so beautiful in the spring!

The fall leaves are pretty much all fallen now but it was a beautiful two weeks while they lasted.  

It's back to school/work tomorrow and I feel filled to the brim with gratitude (and turkey) for all that we are blessed with in this life. 

God is good.

The Kenow Beast

If I had to sum up what September meant to me (in two words) it would be...

Kenow Beast.

That is the name that was given to the massive wildfire that began in the Kenow Basin (somewhere in British Columbia) and crossed the great divide into our beloved Waterton Park on Sept 11th.   

The fire actually began (thanks Lightning!) a couple of weeks prior and hovered for the longest time along the BC/Alberta border.   Standing by the stance (the very viable stance) that it is healthy and natural for a forest to experience fire - Parks Canada and fire officials mostly watched the fire slowly grow, preparing for the worst and doing their best to minimize potential damage and evacuate preemptive.   

The townsite of Waterton was evacuated as soon as officials began to feel certain that the fire was posing a threat to the residents.   It is a good thing they did!

Though the fire grew at a reasonable/manageable rate over those two weeks - in one day it doubled in size, breaching the parks border, crossing over well known terrain such as Bertha, Cameron and Red Rock,  travelling down towards the townsite and  then leaving the park at the main entrance!

Carried by strong wind, the fire quickly approached the community of mountain view, forcing a mandatory evacuation of the west portion of Cardston County.   I was up that entire night wondering if my friends/coworkers had lost their homes, if we would have to be evacuated, and if there would be any it of Waterton left.   

Below are some of the photos that tugged at my heart over the course of these few days.  

Unlike previous journal entries, none of these photos contained in this post were taken by me:   

The local fireman (as well as firemen from Calgary, Lethbridge, Taber, Claresholm etc) had worked feverishly for a coupe of days to prepare Waterton townsite for impending fire.   Seven miles of hose, many pumps, giant sprinklers and copious amounts of fire retardant foam were used.   What a site that must have been for those resting fighters to watch the fire arrive, knowing that once it did, there would be little that they could do.

A co worker of John's and mine is also a firefighter and actually had a leadership role in fighting this Kenow Fire.   He said nothing could have prepared them for the wall of fire that surround them in a matter of minutes.  

The Visitor Centre was one of the first casualties.   Luckily the fire never did breach the actual town site, but it did destroy this center, a few administrative buildings, a portion of the Golf Course, the stables in its entirety, the Park Wardens home as well as some ranchers homes/property.   

Apparently firefighters were told not to protect the visitors center which is interesting considering the heated controversy surrounding the building of a new visitor center.   This recent development could either provide a new found location (land minus old buildings) in which a visitor center could be more amicably built, OR it will provide a more urgent need for the Park Superintendent to ram his agenda for a new building to be built where the much loved community park now stands.     

This photo shows just how close the fire came to some of the cabins.   Literally in the back yards of some!

It's amazing that these small park entrance huts are still standing.  John and I were relieved to see that our favorite defected automated gate is still there.
Of course it would survive;)

This is how the sky looked all evening.  It was eerie!!!!

I didn't sleep much that night, in fact, I woke often to check facebook and shed a tear every time I saw an update or new photo of the park.  Watching Bears Hump go up in smoke was a hard one for me.   Our family has hiked that every year and now it has been forever changed.  

Actually...70% of the park has been forever changed.    

The south side of the park (Vimy, Crypt etc) is still very much untouched, but anything remotely north of the lake is burnt.   Many Wildlife was killed, though the park says there is still some life there and the most recent reports indicate that it will be months and years before most trails are open to the public.  When they are - they will be very exposed trails indeed!  

Ahhh...I could still cry!!!

The day after the fire was a sobering one.  

Though school was cancelled for some, John and I still had work.   The sky over our little town was black.   Like...literally the blackest I'd ever seen.   

Ash (burnt pieces of our park) were falling down around us like giant flakes of snow.   

Everyone functioned in a semi awake sort of way - all with heavy hearts.  

It was weird.  

John and I have little to complain about though.   

We didn't have any equipment in the park.  We lost no Ranch lands.  Our livestock wasn't killed.  Our crops weren't burned.     Truly, the only tangible way that we were effected by that fire that week was we took in two little evacuee birds that belonged to a country dwelling friend of ours who had to flee her home and couldn't take her canaries with her.   

It's been interesting to go back to the park since and I wonder if I will ever see it again as it once was.   One man said in an interview that he suspects Waterton will see some visits over the course of this next year as people come to see the damage, but visits will likely (he said surely) decline after that.  

I for one won't shed a tear if fewer people visit the park (haha) it's still beautiful to me!!

 

Back to School

September 5th came faster than we had hoped (we could have used at least another week of summer break) but the kids tackled their first day of school with enthusiasm just the same. 

Nate was perhaps the excited one.   He had a hard time settling down the night before and he insisted on taking a plate of butter horns to his Grade 2 teacher on the first day.  

 (can everybody say KEENER?;) 

Look at that kid though.   He's pretty scrumptious.

Jessica is tackling grade 5 this year.  She is in a separate class this year from many of her friends and this has been hard for her.   I've been proud of the way she has stretched herself and tried to make new friends.    She's already signed up for Safety Patrol and Kitchen help at noon.   

She's going to be just fine!

Sam is taking on grade 7 with absolute confidence.  He is on the yearbook committee this year and has made the Volleyball team.  I feel pretty certain that he will laugh his way through the next 12 months and drag others along with him as he goes.   Heaven help his teachers;)  

Abby is the one who caused me the most trepidation this year.  She's entering Grade 9 which means she is now at the High School!!   She'll have John as a teacher next semester and I hope to be able to see her in the halls when I am at work too - but still - what if it is a hard year for her?   

What if the other girls aren't kind?

What if she has bad study habits and her grades slip? 

What if her Volleyball season is hard on her and she never tries out again?

What if...?  

What if.....?

I should probably sit back and relax a little and trust that this is a human being with a kind heart and a logical thinking brain.  I'm sure this year won't be without its challenges, but she will be alright.  

Right?   

I'm sure grateful for the reassurance I often feel that these kids are not on their own during their day.  

There have been times where I have prayed for their angel grandparents to literally walk those halls with my kids.  If that could be the case, they would be in good hands indeed.

Girls Camp YW - {Part of our Summer 2017 Top Ten}

At the very end of summer, Abby and I left for a few days to attend Young Women's Camp.    

Our Young Women's president chose the phrase "Be- YOU- tiful" to be our camp theme.  

Ten of our eighteen girls were able to join us and they really beautiful young ladies.  

We held camp at Camp Impeesa which is a facility owned and run by Scouts Canada.   It offered lots of fun activities for us to do during the day.    Some of the fun we enjoyed during these three days consisted of:

Tomahawk throwing....

 Paddle boarding and Swimming....

Bear education from the hilarious hired camp security named TRACKER....

and Zip lining!

The zip lining was a highlight for these girls for sure.   I'm not going to lie - that climb up that rope ladder was harder than I expected.

The ride was definitely a fun one though.   I had fun crossing the lake with Abby beside me.

Of course we had to think up a craft for these girls to do during the down time.  

This was a bit labor intensive but they did it!

It was a fun way to wrap up a VERY adventurous summer!!   

Homeward Bound - {Part of our Summer 2017 Top Ten}

Day 7 (Friday) - The day we began our journey home.

This was a sad day for me.    John (clearly sensing my hesitancy to ever leave the Island) woke me up at 5:15 am so that we could have one last look at the ocean.   We left our kids sleeping soundly in their sleeping bags and made our way down the little path to the shore of Long Beach one last time.  

The fog was heavier than it had ever been (or perhaps it is always that thick at 5am?) and there was just the slightest hint of a sun rise.    We were all alone and able to just drink in the beauty of it all.  

One thing I really grew to appreciate during this week is how small I felt whenever I was near the ocean.  It was spectacular!!  We ran along the shore together and dipped our feet in the water one last time.   By 6 am we left the ocean behind us and made our way back up to our campsite knowing full well that we may not ever get back to this place but so grateful for the memories we'd made.  

By 7 am we were on our way.

We were leaving the Island from a different port this time which gave us the opportunity to drive further south on the Island all the way to Victoria.   The salmons were taking a ferry out of there early that afternoon and thought it'd be fun to show us Fisherman's Warf before we parted ways.   I'm so glad they did!!   Unfortunately they had to leave to catch their ferry so we were pretty much on our own to explore from this point on.   It's a fun/vibrant part of the city.  The harbour is filled with boats and homes on the water.  Apparently there is a resident harbor seal named Lucy who hangs around but we didn't see her.  

What we did see though was lots and lots of vendors selling all sorts of yummy food.  Of course we had to try some Fish n' Chips!

There is nothing tastier than a basket of fish n' chips while sitting on a dock.  

nom nom nom...

We walked around the Parliament grounds for a little while before hopping in the van and making our way to Sidney. 

  Our Ferry would be leaving from Port Sidney that evening and we wanted to give ourselves a few hours there to explore as well.  Both Victoria and Sidney were more beautiful than I'd expected and part of me wished we'd given ourselves a full day for each of these places.   

Sigh....it just means we'll have to come back, right?

Sidney was perhaps my favorite town.   I'd actually been here before as a teenager and it was fun to recognize few familiar landmarks.   We spent some time exploring a local fish market, watching locals trap crab from the pier and exploring some of the gift shops. 

Oh and ice cream.  We spent some time eating ice cream too;)  

Occasionally John and I would be shocked to discover that somethings were actually cheaper on the Island.   Gasoline....Cereal....and Ice cream.   Hooray for that!

We took the kids over to the marina and walked along the docks there for a while.  

This is where my high school class had set off from for our week long biology trip.   I spent some time trying to locate the actual boat we'd travelled on before remembering that that was 25 years ago. 

We loved the seagulls in this area.  So large and fat (obviously with so much fish to eat) but they weren't annoying scavengers like the ones I'm used to.   They were actually lovely to watch.

We could have watched this seal for hours.   It was just meandering around the boats in the marina. 

I imagine she is well known to the locals.  

The time quickly came for us to head to the loading bay for our final ride back to the mainland.   I'd inadvertently booked this final trip on the "Spirit of Vancouver" the largest vessel in the BC ferry fleet.   It was impressive to say the least.  It had the same gift shops and restaurants as the previous one but also an arcade - which blew my boys' minds!  haha.   

A few of us remarked that this may be the closest we come to ever taking a cruise!

Ever since our first Ferry ride Nate had been wanting this toy from the gift shop. All week long I'd continually promised him that if it was on the ferry headed home that I'd get it for him.   You better believe that the gift shop was the first place he went to the moment we were on the boat!  I'm actually super proud of this kid.  Prior to leaving Alberta he'd expressed lots of worry about walking across a suspension bridge, whale watching and - riding on the Ferry.   Throughout the week he'd gone along with each scary thing and overcame a lot of those anxieties.   

We were told that the channels we'd be sailing through is home to some resident orcas and that they can occasionally be seen on trips like this.   It was by biggest hope to see a pod of orcas and we anxiously scoured the horizon for the entire duration of the ride.   (I was probably more anxious to see them than others;)

We saw other Ferries...

...and beautiful sunset views.

....but no orcas.  

Sigh.... I guess that means we'll have to come back, right?

We reached the mainland around 9pm and returned to Capilano RV campground to camp for the night.   Our initial plan was to play in Vancouver the next day and then arrive back at home late Sunday night.   As we woke up Saturday morning though (Day 8 of our trip) we wondered if we should just make the drive early and push to get home that day.  With the Salmons gone and the Ocean behind us - there was little point in hanging around anymore. 

 I was probably just sad and wanted to be home.

It's about a 13 hour drive from Vancouver to Home but it is a very mountainous drive which makes it feel longer.   I was immensely proud of my kids and the way they handled that change of plans and the discomfort of travelling in a crowded vehicle for such a long, windy journey.  

By the time we reached Calgary we'd all agreed that a reward/celebration was in order.

We'd recently been introduced to a sushi grill called KINJO and menu item #75 was on all of our minds!  haha  

So- at 9:30 pm we stopped for a sushi supper celebration.  

Our waitress was surprised to hear that we'd gone all the way out to the coast and not tried the sushi there.   She said it was 100x better than Calgary sushi.   oops! 

  I guess we'll have to go back again, right? 

That last stretch of our trip (from Calgary home) was a quiet one.  

All four kids were sound asleep which gave John and I lots of time to reflect together about the trip.  

It was amazing and special and perfect in every way.  

So grateful for friends who led out with the planning of it and for the chance we had to go.