Annual trip to see the elk

Jessica and I were recently lamenting that we had not gotten a chance to watch the elk this fall.  Volleyball, work, callings ...it had all taken priority and Elk watching season had come and gone before we were able to make our annual trip out to Waterton.  

Last Sunday, in a last minute effort, the girls and I crossed our fingers and went for a Sunday drive and were delighted to find that we hadn't missed out at all.   In fact, we saw more elk that evening than we perhaps ever have.   

Sigh....

and now - we are ready to say goodbye to fall.

Volleyball, Falling Leaves and a bit of make believe

We just came out of a busy Volleyball season, but it was a gooder. 

John coached Abby's JV team this year and not only was Abby on the team - our niece Mya was too!

I LOVED watching these two girls stand tall at the net.   They make a good duo.   

The leaves have all fallen and, for the most part, blown on towards Medicine Hat but not before the kids were able to have a little fun with them first.  

It made me laugh one day to find Jess and Nate raking the driveway of a neighbor two houses down.   This initially seemed like a random act of kindness on their part, but it turns out they were actually stealing bags of leaves and dumping them out in our backyard!   The more the merrier, I guess?

Halloween came and went in a flash, with many of us securing our costumes literally the night before.  Why does this have to be so stressful??   Thank goodness I have an abundance of chocolate at the end of days like this;)

Sam went as a "Cereal Killer."   (badda boom)

Jessica was our tacky tourist.

John went as Scott Sterling.  (as in The man, The myth, The legend;)

Abby dressed up as the Mad Hatter and accompanied all of her friends who also went with the Alice in Wonderland theme.

Nate purchased this inflatable blue guy suit all by himself.  On Halloween morning he came upstairs and declared that he was going as a Fat Mexican.   (We shut that one down real fast but he still wore this.   It's just nobody knew what to call him.)

I threw on some Hippie attire and called it good.   This family of mine tuckered me right out that day!

It was about 9:00 at night when we were finally able to wish John a Happy Birthday, but such is to be expected when one dares to be born on halloween.

Shoot your shot!

John and I went on a real live date recently.  

The kind of date where John planned something, invited me to join him, and nothing got in the way of it.   It's been a while since we've enjoyed a date like that. 

We went out to my Uncle George's property and shot John's .22.

I was a little worried about this activity, seeing as neither John or I are very familiar with firearms, but it quickly became apparent that John knew what he was doing. 

It also became apparent that I am a pretty good shot. 

Like, hello?

It was fun to steal away for an hour.   

Can't wait to go out again!

Thanksgiving at Bozeman/Yellowstone

I am so very thankful for the days in my life that remind me to be thankful.

John and I had committed to take Johns Dad down the the Great Falls airport this past Thursday and then to pick him up the following Thursday.   Thanks to a generous offer from John's sister Sarah, we decided to capitalize on the three days sandwiched in between and make a family trip out of it.  I ended up driving Max down early Thursday morning and John came with the kids later that evening so we could continue on to Bozeman together.  

We spent Friday touring Yellowstone National Park where we visited Geysers,  searched for wildlife, visited old Faithful and strolled along the walkways at Prismatic Springs.   At the end of the day my eyes literally hurt because I had spent the day staring so intently at the landscape around me.  On Saturday we got dressed up and attended/watched General Conference.   It was exciting to listen to some of the announcements that were made as we listened to church leaders.   Sunday was a fun day as we watched Ed work all day long preparing a classy take on Thanksgiving dinner.   Quail with mint Chutney, Roasted Veggies and Rabbit Stew.   Yummmmm.....    We met Sarah's friends Nora and Chuck and were introduced to several games that my kids now want  us to buy.   Earlier that day Sarah had taken us up to Palisades Falls, a beautiful waterfall not from from their home.  

It was a beautiful day weekend from start to finish.   

We couldn't have enjoyed this trip without the kind hospitality of Ed and Sarah.  

They opened up their home for us even when they weren't themselves there, they stocked their fridge with food to see us through the weekend and gave us a cozy home away from home where we could just enjoy being together as a family. 

It was a Thanksgiving to be remembered.

Taking the long way home

This past Saturday I found myself feeling swamped, absolutely weighed down with a long list of things that I felt I needed to get done.   Every time that I walked by my front window I could see the giant tree tree across the street, its yellow and orange leaves warning me that it's fleeting autumn were worth enjoying.   I've noticed that I have less "carpe diem" in me than I used to which is why I will be forever grateful that Jessica came to me on this day and, in her sweet persuasive way, insisted that we go for a drive.    We drove to Babb so that I could grab some packages that I knew were there, however when it came time for our return trip, I no longer wanted to go home.   The landscape was on fire with orange and yellow and red, and that is when the long list of things I needed to get done no longer mattered.  

We opted for the long way home, which meant an hour long drive along the Chief Mountain Highway, a detour into Waterton for the last hot dog of the season, and then finally home.   The scenes we passed took our breath away, sometimes moved me to tears and at one point caused us to hope out of the van and dance in the middle of the road while we celebrated our first snowfall of the year.  

There is so much in my life that is out of balance right now. I am unfocused, a bit unwilling, and I am carrying a grudge that has been as hard to let go of as my To-Do list.  This day was medicine to my soul and a reminder to me that sometimes it is important to take the long way home.  

Sigh....

Here we go...

It is hard to believe that summer is over.  

When I look through my journal, I feel so grateful for each experience we had, however overall - 

this summer was just really really hard.   For the first time ever in the history of Septembers, I am mostly OK with school starting.

...Except for when I consider how fast my kids are growing!  (Then I've got issues;)

My baby (Nate) is now in grade 3, and is the lone one in our family at the Elementary School.

He has expressed some anxiety about this over the past few weeks, which means that I have experienced some anxiety about this too.  (When the kids are nervous- mama's nervous.  That's a fact)

Jess is a brand new Junior High girl and assures me she is ready for this.  (Glad one of us is;)

She bravely decided to run for Grade 6 Girls rep, and won by acclamation a landslide.  Haha . 

On Friday night Jess learned that several of her friends had a "start of Junior High" party which she was sadly out of the loop about.   Ouch!   One week into Junior High and it already feels rough.  

Her and I went for a walk that evening and talked about how ok it is to feel like we are missing out, but how not ok it is to expect to always be included.   We devised a plan that involves her working hard to be a friend to everyone (widening her village as much as she can) and she took that one step further:  Jess decided that every time she feels left out, she is going to look for a lonely student and make them feel welcomed.   Gasp!  I can't help but feel a little bit more certain that this girl is ready for this.   Yes, she is going to be just fine.  

Sam is king of the castle (at least his own little castle) as a grade 8 student at the Junior High.   Sam has so much personality and everything needed to be a really kick butt human being.  He ran for student body President this past week, and won.   I was really proud of him for sticking it out through the election and putting himself out there.  I hope that he has the confidence to be a kind and willing leader this year.    I really like this kid.   I pray for him - a lot, and he kinda drives me insane at times, but... I really like him.

Abby is starting her last three years.  As a grade 10 student she has lots of hope of getting a vehicle, scholarships, and a job.   She's highly motivated and (if she can stay away from Netflix) I really think she has a chance of getting earning at least a couple of the above.  

John is back at it this year, and started off running.   The only difference for John though is that he is coaching girls JV volleyball instead of boys Varsity ball.   That is a major change for him, but one that enables him to watch/coach Abby.  

And then there is me.   This post could have done without this photo, but John was sweet enough to include me as a "back to school" family member.    I am returning as an Educational Assistant this year AND have begun plugging away on my first University class EVER!   I'm mildly afraid that I won't be able to find time to work on anything.  When I get stressed, I procrastinate, and I have discovered that Netflix is certainly my downfall.  

Welp.  Here we go!