Kick off to Christmas

 It is always a JOYFUL day for me when the Christmas decorations go up. 

I consider myself a minimalist who holds on to very few material things, but Christmas decor? 

Nope...you can never have too much!

There will be a lot of cozy nights enjoying the glow of these Christmas trees!

Elk day in Waterton

We had some VERY busy days this fall (university life kinda took over) but thankfully we were able to make one more drive out to Waterton in time to watch the Elk.  

There was a fresh, think blanket of snow on the ground with the promise of more to come looming just behind the mountain range, which made for lovely lighting.

 We finished with a drive up to Cameron Lake.

We have LOVED driving this road again!

Special Sundays with Grandpa

Since March, we have been having church in our home, and we have truly loved the experience.  

It's been just as good as church at church, but maybe a little bit better.  (Is that bad to say?)

The kids give talks often.  

John blesses the sacrament. 

Sam passes it, and Nate soon will too.

We've especially enjoyed having Grandpa join us. 

He participates whenever asked, and my kids have been lucky enough to hear his testimony borne more in the last 9 months than ever before.  

We are starting to attend church twice a month, and our ward and Grandpas ward go on alternating weeks, which means our Sunday meetings with Grandpa happen a little less frequently now.

We'll take Sundays like this, any time we can get them!

 

Seniors Night

This past November we watched Abby play her last high school volleyball game ever.

It was a little bit sweet and a little bit sad. 

Seniors Night is always a fun game to attend, where the graduating players are recognized, presented with a gift, and present their parents with a rose.  It is a sweet gesture and given the fact that this volleyball season was a little more challenging due to covid restrictions, it was almost miraculous that they even got this night at all!

For a moment, due to a case and quarantine in the neighboring town, it looked as though seniors night would have to be postponed, but I am so glad that her coach pushed ahead to have it on this evening.  A week later- all sports would once again be shut down.  

Abby and her cousin Brooke were able to play on the same team this year!

This was by far Abby's favorite year of playing.  She enjoyed her teammates the new position on the court that she got to play.  It was fun to watch her grow so much!

Crazy to think we won't be coming out to support her games anymore.

 

45 Halloweens and 11 more!

Unlike previous years when I have gone all out planning costumes for my kids, I really left Halloween up to them this year.  (Back to school burnout is real, folks;). As a result, we all found ourselves scrambling for ideas days before the big day.

Abby and her friends all went as "Among Us" characters.  Even though I had no clue what she was, every other teenager in town seemed to.  (Apparently, it is a good thing to be "wicked sus?")  

Nate's costume made me wicked angry.  For months he has been planning to be Gandalf.  I'd been convinced that I'd ordered a pricy little costume last year, but could find it, so with a week or two before Halloween, I got online and ordered it.  ($96 for this kid to be his favorite wizard!). And no surprise, the day this costume arrived in the mail...I found the other one I'd ordered. 

Nothing like spending $200 on a kid, for one day. 

 He is cute, but to this day I still get mad when I think about it.  

Sam had to wait to find out what his friends were being before he could decide on his own costume.   In the end, they all agreed to go as skaters.  Everything Sam used for his costume were things he actually wears on a normal day.  Hmmmmm......

Jessica (and all of her friends went as rappers.  I did manage to find this swanky metallic jacket that I hope to see her wear again one day, but probably never will.  I'm not entirely sure why half my kids have chosen to be thugs this year.  Perhaps the covid restrictions of late have driven them to this point of rebellion?

Or perhaps there is a more genetic explanation for their Halloween expressions.  

Heaven knows they didn't inherit their mean streaks from me though;)

My last-minute costume was inspired by a fellow EA who was in Lethbridge the day before Halloween and saw all the makings for a few of us to go as the "Three Blind Mice."  It's such an overdone idea, but you guys, when a friend tells you she will get you a costume, you accept.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  

One of the unsuspected surprises of covid was that volleyball tournaments were not permitted this year, which meant that for the first time in like FOREVER John was home with us on his birthday.  Unfortunately, the whole back to school burnout was a factor, so we didn't celebrate this man in the biggest way possible, but we did manage to throw down a carrot cake in the shape of a ghost.  

I'm so grateful I married a man with low expectations;)

With Nate and Jess trick or treating with friends, and Sam and Abby at parties, it was a quiet evening for John and I. We waited anxiously for our doorbell to ring, eager to hand out candy to other people's children,  I'll admit there was a pang of longing for former, simpler days when our kids still wanted to be with us. Sigh....

It was a nice evening and I was grateful to get to celebrate the fact that John has lived through 45 Halloweens so far!  

 Because Nate's 11th birthday fell on a Sunday this year we made sure to celebrate it all weekend long.  (Nate had felt quite anxious that the sabbath might not make for a fun enough day for a birthday.)

I hope we did not disappoint!

 

All the things we're grateful for. (Lettuce...and more!)

If I had to pick a favorite holiday, I just might say it is Thanksgiving.

That could be because it marks the first real break in a school year, or maybe it is because we justifiably get to gorge ourselves with an insane amount of food, or perhaps it is because this season brings some of the loveliest sights and colors if the yeaar.

Whatever the reason, I love it!

The kids and I spent two nights at my sister in law (Rachel's) house.   She fed us an AMAZING turkey dinner, the kids played with their cousins, we explored the mall and had fun chats that last until midnight.  

The  next day we woke up early and left Rachel's to attend church in my brother's ward as my niece was speaking.  She is leaving soon for a 18 month mission.  We are so proud of the young woman that she is becoming and can't wait to hear updates from her throughout this adventure. 

We got home on Sunday evening and were able to enjoy Thanksgiving day with John and Max. 

We took a drive along the Chief Mountain Highway where we spotted a few rogure snowflakes, but precious little else.  

We got home in time to throw together a Turkey dinner consisting of turkey, stuffing, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, carmalized onion and feta beets, salad and of course - pumpkin pie!  We've had pumpkin pie every day for about a week and no one is sick of it yet.  

We added our final submissions to the gratitude pumpkin.  A few things of note as I reviewed our lists of things we are grateful for:

*Nate wrote his points in Elvish.  (Perhaps a sign that it is time to lay off Lord of the Rings?;)

* Sam set out to prove to me just how pointless he thought this activity was (hence his submissions of Fortnite...COVID...John Mayer...and lettuce.  I mean, how did LETTUCE make the list?!)

*John didn't initially care to add anything to the pumpkin, but then I got after him and accused him of being a "noncompliant."  He acted much more grateful after that.

* My girls played along beautifully adding some of the sweetest comments ever, making the whole activity so completely and utterly worth it.  (Thank goodness for daughters, you know?;)

We spent the remainder of the evening watching comedy and wishing we had more pumpkin pie. 

I sure feel blessed to have the family that I do and to live the life I get to live!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Family Pics - That time Sam had enough

Sam has grown tired of my constant need for family photos. 

I don't entirely understand what the big deal is, but he asks a lot of "whys" whenever I announce it is picture day.  

Why do I have to be in it?

Why do we have to go somewhere else to take it?

Why can't we just take it in our backyard?

Why do I have to wear something dumb?

Why do we have to do this every two months?

So many questions!

I'll be the first to admit, I am obsessed with taking family photos.  It isn't a vanity thing.  I wouldn't say any of us are particularly photogenic (well except John) and none of us enjoys having our picture taken. 

I just feel a deep desire to document my families life in photos, that's all. 

Actually, there is probably some deep-rooted reason that stems from the fact that I grew up without a Mom and have only ONE complete family photo from my childhood.

That might be why, but I don't want to burden Sam with that, so instead, I do my best to convince him that "this time around it will be more fun."

It's always a lie, and he and I both know it, but still, he comes.

This past weekend, while our family was still basking in the peaceful, sorta spiritual glow from General Conference, we whisked out to Waterton for one final attempt at a family photo and we were all hoping that perhaps, this time, we'd capture a shot that I would be happy with.  

Things weren't looking good, I'm not going to lie.  The girls were cooperative and John was willing (he knew better than to complain) but my boys...oh, my boys.  After one shot, they just weren't having it anymore.  Suddenly though, in a strange and unexpected turn of events ..SAM grabbed the camera, told me to go sit down, and took the whole matter into his own hands. 

He adjusted the camera, changed lenses, directed family members, set timers, and hit click before joining us in the shots, and he did it all while being incredibly entertaining.

What the what?  Did he forget that family photos are not supposed to be fun?

Look at him, going and making this an enjoyable experience for everyone! ;)

I feel satisfied.

And grateful.

And I wonder if he'd let us do this again sometime;)

 

Cameron Lake - Hello, my friend!

The road to Cameron Lake opened up last week for the first time in THREE years!  It is the last road in the park to open since the Kenow wildfire in 2017 ravaged the park and we were so excited to finally get to drive that beautiful road again.

We picked a beautiful day to go too, as the fall colors were all at a peak.  

We stopped along the way, taking pictures of some of my favorite spots!

             The lake was as beautiful as ever and you could see exactly where the firemen had focused their preventative measures, leaving a swath of healthy treeline right around the lake.  

This fall has given us some beautiful days and being up here felt like being reunited with an old friend.

A day at the Movies

My niece Ella works at a movie theatre and so graciously arranged a day in September when my whole family could gather to watch Mulan.  We had the whole theatre to ourselves!

How cool is that? 

             Popcorn, pop, candy, and pizza after the show. 

We could sit anywhere we wanted.  Talk as loud as we wanted and laugh, cheer, cry as loud as we wanted.

I mean, we didn't do those things, but just knowing that we could have made the experience of going to the movies that much more enjoyable. 

We were so spoiled and truly enjoyed the day with them all.

  

 (Photo taken by my brother, Chad)

I sure love this group and the fact that we live close enough to each other to enjoy adventures like this together!

Elk Rut - Annual Family Visit

Every year we look forward to watching the Elk who gather along the Blackiston fan in Waterton.  To me, Elk rutting season means hot chocolate, toques, binoculars, cameras, and family all happily squished in a vehicle as we listen to the bugling and watch as the bulls aggressively try to manage their herds.  

This year, we've only managed to get out there once so far to watch the rutting and for some reason, only Abby and Jess wanted to join John and I.  What gives?  Is this not our whole families favorite thing to do in the fall?  What is happening?

In my opinion, if you are too busy to watch the Elk rutting, you are quite frankly, just too busy.