Nerd Day

Last Thursday was Nerd Day at school.  I think the school tries to have a spirit day at least once a month, and Emry usually tries to participate!  Sometimes she is a little apprehensive because she is sure the other kids will laugh at her, it isn't until we tell her over and over that most of the kids will be dressed the same way will she finally let her guard down!  Anyway, for Nerd Day she asked Grandpa Puzey if he had any old glasses she could borrow, he found the nastiest pair of old plastic frames with dark lenses in them.  He popped out the lenses and we tied an elastic from arm to arm so they would stay on Emry's face.  They were perfect!  The best part is she won't STOP wearing them!  I took Emry on a little mommy, daughter date friday night to "The Nutcracker" in Vulcan and she wore her nerd glasses.  Before we left the house Jared asked her if she was sure she wanted to wear them, she answered quite confidently, "Yeah!"  What could we tell her?  Once we got to the play she did put them around her neck, but every so often I would look over at her and they would be on her face.  She actually looks so cute in them, it is hard as a parent to see the mean kids who will most definitely laugh at her, but that night no one did.  I love the innocence about her, she truly is a sweetheart!  This past weekend she played all day with Calum, she would take him into his room and she would set up forts and read him stories.  It was so nice to be able to get some things down without any interruptions or sounds of fighting!  She does try to discipline him a little too much, although cute, she grabs both his hands and tells him to look at Emry and then she tells him that he can't do whatever he was doing, before she lets him go she makes sure he says okay!

Calum suited these glasses a little too perfectly, with his curly hair and goofy smile!

Best pals!

Emry playing War with Calum.

December 1, 2010????????

At my regular prenatal checkup yesterday, Dr. Davey asked me what I thought about having a baby next week!  As uncomfortable as I am I readily said sure, sounds great!  That is until I took a minute to think about it!  Next Wednesday I am scheduled to be induced, if the hospital hasn't been bombarded by women going into labour naturally!  I am so nervous, the whole labour experience is very vividly coming back to me!  Dr. Davey won't be able to deliver this baby, but his associate Dr. Browne will be there to do it.  I have heard just as good of things of him as I had of Dr. Davey, so I know it will all go okay!  I really enjoyed being induced with Calum because Jared and I were able to drive down to Lethbridge calmly and we were admitted without any stress.  Although Wednesday will come way to fast I am so excited to hold this little bundle.  I am still unsure exactly if this baby will be a boy, Dr. Davey said the heart beat sounded very girlish again!  I only assumed when the Ultra sound tech pointed to the screen and said it was pretty obvious what the baby was, that she meant it was a boy!  I do like the excitement of the surprise especially after all the hard work to get to the end result!  The arrival of this baby has come at a very busy time for us, but I know it is also a blessing in disguise!  Now the only hard part is deciding on a name if this baby does end up being a little boy!  Why are boys so hard to name?  Is it because you want their name to mean something, or that the name should shape their character for good?  Both our kids names so far have suited them perfectly, so why is this one so much harder?  Anyway, here's to Wednesday December 1, 2010, it will be here before I know it!

Farewell Charlie

Since May of this year we have been bottle feeding this little abandoned calf!  Dick phoned us and asked if we thought we might want to keep him at the farm to feed since he was never actually claimed by a mother cow.  We aren't sure if he is a twin or if his mom just didn't feel like taking care of him.  He happened to be born in a storm, which really didn't help his situation.  Anyway, we took him in and Emry just loved him.  When he was still slightly small we would let him out of his pen and he would follow us all around the farm.  He eventually got too big to do this because when he would nudge us for some milk he would usually knock us over.  One morning Emry and I went out to feed him and let the dogs out of their kennel but before we got to his pen we heard this charging, stampede like sound coming toward us.  I turned around just in time to see Charlie running full force right at us.  Thank goodness we had his bottle with us or we would have been pancakes for sure at the speed he was going!  Another time when we were having dinner we could hear Charlie mooing, and it sounded like it was just a little too close to the house.  We looked out the window and saw Charlie in the backyard wanting desperately for us to come out.  So Emry did just that, against what we told her would probably happen!  Well, the next thing we hear is Emry screaming, Jared runs out to see what has happened and finds Emry up on the swing trying to get as high as she can because Charlie is trying his hardest to nudge some milk out of her!  Jared rescues Emry and once in the house tells her not to open the front door because Charlie followed them up onto the deck!  He said after dinner he would make up a bottle and take it out to Charlie.  Well, Emry being a little determined and curious opened the front door and in comes Charlie, charging his way right into the dinning room!  He plowed Calum over in the process and probably wouldn't have backed down if Jared hadn't spotted a water bottle near the front door!  Charlie mistook it for his bottle and instantly followed Jared out the door!

Since we are going to be weaning the rest of the calves from their moms at the beginning of December we thought we had better start cutting Charlie back a bit too.  Jared has been giving him hay, which he absolutely loved and we would give him a bottle every other day.  He really seemed to be thriving and was getting so big, maybe even a little too chubby!  On Monday when Jared gave Charlie some hay he came running over as usual and was barely interested in the bottle Jared had for him.  On Tuesday when Jared went to give him a warm bottle because it has been so cold he found Charlie behind his little shelter barley alive, and in no way interested in his bottle.  He ears were frozen and one of his back legs. Jared came in the house to read his cattle manual to see what he could do for him.  Taking too long to find anything he called Buck instead and he came right over with some electrolyte.  They had to use the front end loader to get him into the heated shop and get him warmed up, he is now at least 300 pounds, if not bigger.  He was barely responsive, but they were able to get some electrolyte into him.  I came out not long after to see how things were going and we decided then to try and warm him up.  Jared found the heat gun and I started to rub him down with a towel.  He started to perk up a little, he would move his legs and blink his eyes, only he would cry out like he was in some kind of pain.  We started to gain a little hope when he started to respond to our touch.  We probably did this for 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes.  And then he just went still and his eyes went glassy.

The most frustrating thing is we aren't even sure what happened to him.  Buck thinks he must have gotten a bug of some kind for it to happen so fast.  His tummy was hard but Buck said if he was bloated we would have noticed him acting sluggish for a few days.  It is hard when you loose any animal, but Charlie was the first of our cows to come to the farm, it was a lot of fun having him around and a great experience for Emry.  Even Calum loved him, he could actually say his name, "Chaaarwie!"  Whenever he heard him moo, Calum would say "Hi Chaarwie!" and then put his hands to his mouth and moo.  When I told Emry this morning that Charlie died last night, she was sad, but said so innocently, "Now Grandpa Dick can take care of him, he loves cows!"  What a sweetheart!  Charlie will be missed, I am not looking forward to the losses we will most definitely experience having cows here.  I know it affects Jared much more than me, he is so tenderhearted.  When we go look at the cows in the field he says how hard it will be for him to sell any of them, he considers them all pets!

Gratitude

Yesterday, Beverely Smith and I were going to go Visiting Teaching, but because of sick little boys we were unable to, thank goodness we didn't leave it to the last day of the month, we will try again next week!  Anyway, the message I was going to give to the sisters we visit teach was a talk given by President Monson from our last General Conference.  His talk was called "The Divine Gift of Gratitude", and it truly is an excellent one.  I know at times I take for granted what I have, and dwell too much on what I want, and why I don't have it now.  As I read over this talk I gained a new perspective on gratitude.  And then my Visiting teacher, Terry, came today and challenged me to read a talk given by our Prophet from the Conference Ensign and apply his counsel to my life.  I had already read this talk and was even thinking about writing down all the things I am grateful for before she challenged me to do this, and since her challenge I have decided to do it instead of just think about it.  Already I know Dave won't read this because it is too long, and if I write down all I am thankful for everyone would be reading for days!

I do however want to express my gratitude for a few very things in my life!  First, my membership in such a wonderful church.  I am so grateful to be able to listen to the counsel our Prophet has to give us, he truly is the mouth piece for our Heavenly Father.  I know that as I do the things commanded to us in the scriptures that I will be blessed, and I know at times I fail miserably because of my laziness when it comes to reading my scriptures but I know Heavenly Father knows my intentions are there, and thankfully at times He is patient with me!  Without having the Gospel and the faith of Jesus Christ in my life I know I would be so lost, I know I would feel very little meaning in my life.  And now, even when life gets hard (raising kids, making ends meet...) I really feel like I still have purpose here on this earth and that I truly am living for something greater, eternal life!

Second, I would like to express my gratitude for an extremely loving, kind, caring, compassionate, tender hearted...husband!  I really couldn't ask for a better companion to share this life with.  I know at times we have struggled but I also know that without him I would not be the person I am today.  He gives so much for our little family.  Even when he is working himself to the bone, he still finds time to play cards with Emry or lay with Calum when he won't go to sleep for his mom!  I love Jared more than anything in this world and when I feel defeated because of Calum's persistence or Emry's sassiness, I just have to look at him for reassurance and I feel a sense of peace and comfort wash over me.  I am also thankful for all he does for us ungrudgingly.  The house he has built for us truly is a masterpiece and when we are able to move into it really will be a dream come true!  The fences he has built for the cows and the patience he has shown even when the cows decide to break through the electric fence to eat the straw bales has been a true test of character for him.  And when it seems like he has had to do many things twice either because of weather or lack of time to finish projects completely, he still plugs away!

I am also thankful for wonderful parents.  I am so lucky because I have two sets of parents who are always there for me and who would do anything for me despite their circumstances!  My mom lives just a few miles away, usually just a phone call away!  And even with all that has happened to her this past year she is still smiling and concerned for others.  I love her so much and I truly admire her strength!  And my in-laws (I actually really hate this word to describe them!) are just steps away when I need an extra hand dealing with the kids!  Quite often they entertain Calum while I put Emry to bed, so it can be done with a little peace!  Or even if I have to dash out to the school, like today for instance when I had to take chilli in for the hot lunch, Myrna will offer to keep Calum!  And my dad, who isn't able to be as readily available as my mom or Jared's parents, is always just a phone call away too, and when I need a break from watching Treehouse, he can usually make me laugh!  Without my family I would again be lost.

I have so much to be thankful for, and even as I sit here typing this I have one of them on my lap!  The sweetest little man ever, just woke up from his nap and still wants to cuddle with his momma!  What a life I have been blessed with, and what a family I have to share it all with as well!

Oh, one more thing I am thankful for is David!  Even though he is still in pain, at least he knows what has been the cause of it, and thankfully it isn't because his cancer has gone crazy!  Hopefully they can schedule an operation to have his stint put in well before Christmas so he can enjoy the holidays pain free!  I am also so thankful for his attitude!  Even with all the pain he can still find reason to smile, he truly is an example to me and Myrna too, she still putters away with a cheerful heart!  And maybe before next week is over I will stop fighting over the thermostat with him, when this next little blessing in our lives will soon arrive.  Another thing I am extremely grateful for!  I love to feel it move inside me, even if it usually is more uncomfortable because a little foot scrapes across my rib cage!  I love that Jared and I have had a hand in bringing this sweet spirit into this world, to this earth to experience all the joy that we as humans are able to feel.  Even when I worry about what the world is becoming and what our children will have to face, I am reassured by the fact that we have faith in something so much greater than ourselves, and when we rely on this faith to guide us we will have the comfort from our Heavenly Father and that truly will carry us through.

Like I said, I have so much to be thankful for, I really don't know where to stop, or if I even could!! :)

Best of Friends!

As soon as Emry gets home from school Calum is all over her!  He constantly says her name, "Emmeee, Emmee!"  He absolutely loves his big sister, yes at times he does pull her hair and tackle her to the ground, but for the most part he loves sitting on the couch with her watching t.v., or playing cars with her!  They were both on the couch watching t.v. a few minutes ago and I was able to capture this picture of them!  It melted my heart, I was so happy the camera was within arms reach before they moved!  And yes, please excuse the fact that Calum is still in his jammie jams, when it is this cold outside and all we did was stay inside I found no logical reason to get him dressed just to get more clothes dirty!  I just got my laundry from last week put away today, and the thought of having to do more in a couple of days is a little over whelming!

Notice how they both have to play with their hair while they drink their milk!  So cute!

You Know You Are Too Busy When...

Jared finally cut his toenails last night before he went to Young Men's!  He said he had better take some time and do it or he would be bleeding by the end of basketball with the boys!  He definitely has been busy, but too busy to cut his toenails?  I'm not sure about this!  Hope no one is queasy when they look at the following pictures!

He kinda looks like a Vampire!

A Fun Day!

Jared took this picture of Emry and I at the Columbia Falls Waterslide when we went to Kalispell this summer!  It is the most recent one of the two of us together!

Today Emry and I went to Lethbridge for my prenatal appointment.  We had a lot of fun together!  She really is the sweetest little girl ever, I couldn't ask for a better daughter!  We had a ton of little errands to do so we left Calum with Grandma and Grandpa Puzey, a little easier than dragging him in and out of his car seat and then in and out of a stroller!  This has probably been the most uncomfortable pregnancy for me so far!  Even as I sit here typing this I am extremely uncomfortable, my tummy is rock hard, and still the baby finds room to kick and move around!  My appointment went well, I am measuring exactly as I should be, although the numbers on the scale are much, much higher than I have ever wanted to see.  I have out weighed Jared for a couple of months now!  Water retention, right?!  My doctor plans on inducing me a week to 10 days before my due date, December 10th!  I have to take blood thinner injections while I am pregnant because of the Factor Five Laden blood disorder I have (thanks Mom!!)  It actually isn't a big deal, Jared gives me the needles I still can't look when he does it, you would think I would be used to it by now.  I actually liked being induced with Calum, Jared took the day off, we drove down to Lethbridge in a calm manner, it felt very relaxed!  I am also happy the baby will be here the first week of December, since I am the Second Councillor in the Relief Society, I am in charge of the extra activity meetings.  We are planning our Christmas party for December 10th so I will be able to be there.  We also have a super fun party we have always been invited to on the 11th!  Another event we will be able to attend!  Oh, and on the 9th, is the Vulcan Choral Festival that our church choir is singing at and Jared has a little solo part (I actually think he was hoping to have an excuse to miss this!), and Emry's Family Dance at the school is that night also!  So despite this baby being due that week, we already seem to be booked up!  Thank you Dr. Davey for planning on inducing me a week early, it will make life a lot easier!  And I guess thanks to Mom too, for passing on her "bad" blood, so I have a reason to be induced!  Oh, one more thing!  When I had my routine ultra sound earlier in my pregnancy, the technician pointed at the screen where it looked like a little boy part should be!  She didn't come out and say the baby was a boy, but she did say it looked pretty obvious at what it would be!  Today when Dr. Davey listened to the baby's heart beat he said it sure sounded like a girl!  Poor Emry was standing right there beside me and when he said this her little face just beamed!  I think we truly are in for a surprise, but either way I will be happy with whatever!  The only thing is, I have only gone through all the little boy clothes, washed them and put them in the drawers!  For the hospital I did try to pick some neutral sleepers I can put the baby in!  Time will tell, 2 weeks time to be exact!

Chocolate Making

On Thursday all the Puzey girls got together to do our annual chocolate making.  This year Myrna did things a little differently, which actually helped speed things along on Thursday.  She went to each of the girls houses and made 2-3 batches of fondant, instead of making them all herself days before we would all get together to dip.  It was such an experience for everyone to learn how to make the fondant first hand.  Next year I think she is going to assign us each 4 batches to make and bring them when we dip, to save her more time and give us the experience.

Myrna getting the chocolate ready

Lalainia and Char rolling fondant

Thursday started at a decent hour, everyone started arriving between 8:30am and 10am!  We got right to work rolling the fondant, and when we had a few batches rolled, the dipping began.  We all took a turn at dipping, a technique that will be mastered over time, but they all turned out exceptionally well, and really, who actually inspects the shape of a dipped chocolate before they put it in their mouth?!

We stopped at 1pm for lunch, and had Myrna's amazing stew.  After a bit of a break we were back strong, until we stopped for dinner at 6:30pm.  After dinner we had only a few coconut to finish dipping and then the dreaded clean up!  The kids were even in bed by 8:30pm!

Cora and Emry helping Auntie Rachel

It was a great day full of lots of laughing by the girls.  The kids even helped a little with putting the topping on the chocolate. And except for the minor destruction of the basement with the toys there weren't many tantrums or fights for that matter!  The kids have fun together and they are all at the perfect age where they can keep each other entertained!  Even though Dave and Jared worked hard outside finishing fences and corals, I do think they had the more peaceful job that day!  Even though the kids were good, the house was loud, a good loud mind you, but still loud!

Little fingers sneaking a little treat now and then!

If I don't divide my chocolates up soon, there weren't be any left to give away, I think every time Jared goes into our room he sneaks a few from the storage room before he comes out!  It is always a fun tradition, one I look forward to each year!  And perhaps next year I will be a little less uncomfortable since this pregnancy is quickly coming to an end!

The finished product!  I think they look pretty good!

Sound Asleep!

Calum has mastered climbing out of his crib quite awhile ago.  So to keep some sanity in our lives we rigged up his crib so it would be too hard for him to climb out.  We already had it lowered as far as it would go when he first figured it out, so we propped the mattress up with Encyclopedias so the top of the mattress is right in line with the bottom of the rail.  I always knew Encyclopaedias were still good for something despite the Internet!  Anyway, about two weeks ago Calum finally mastered climbing out of his crib with the mattress as far down as it can possibly go without him crawling out between the mattress and the rail!  One day I stood outside his door and watched how he does it, even though he does have some stuffed animals in his crib he doesn't use them to climb on, he kicks his little leg up until his toes can curl around the top of the rail and then, as he is grunting, he hoists himself up over the top.  Once balanced he very gracefully lowers himself to the ground.  I am quite amazed at how he does it, he is so quiet.  Anyway, the day I stood outside his door, I think I put him back in about 8 times before he could lower himself to the ground.  I don't know if he ended up winning that battle or if we tied!  But finally I couldn't lift him any more, so I took him to the couch and cuddled him to sleep.  Jared said he won, but he woke up in his crib, so I think we actually tied!

Sunday night, Jared and I took turns putting him back to bed, probably about 10 times.  The next day all Jared and I could talk about was how cute he was, and how we were both amazed that neither of us got angry or frustrated with him.  The first time he climbed out that night we didn't even hear him until he came sprinting down the hall, both hands hold onto his pyjama legs!  Jared met him at the end of the hall, picked him up and carried back to his bed.  Calum didn't complain at all, in fact he cuddled right into Jared.  As Jared was walking out of his room, he could already hear Calum trying to climb out again.  A couple times when he came running out he would make a huge circle around Jared to get to me, still he wouldn't complain when Jared just picked him up and put him back to bed.  By the end Calum started to get sneaky, or at least he thought he was.  He would slide down the wall in the hallway, get to where a toy was, pick it up, and start to play, he wouldn't look at us the entire time.  Finally I had to just take him to his room where I cuddled and sang him to sleep, or I am sure it would have gone on all night!

Tonight when I put him to bed, I did the usual routine...cuddle and singing!  After a few minutes of just rocking back and forth he pointed to his crib so I asked him if he wanted to lay down, he nodded and smiled, so I laid him down and sat on the floor to hold his hand for a few minutes.  He must have gotten a second wind or something because he started to play.  I told him it was bed time and mommy had to leave. I got up, closed his door and went into the bathroom to cut my nails.  The bathroom is right next to his room and I really wanted to hear what he would do with his door closed and no hall light seeping in.  I did hear him get out of his crib and sit behind the door.  There is one of those support poles behind the door and for some reason he loves to sit there.  I find him there quite often when I get him up from his nap.  He wasn't crying or even calling for me, so I didn't go in to check on him, instead I went and watched t.v. for about half an hour before I finally asked Jared if he would go get him and I would just cuddle him to sleep, because I was just too tired and too sore to keep putting him back in his bed.  When Jared went in to get him this is what we found...

He didn't even get any toys out, he just went right to his favourite spot and conked out!

I think it might be time for a bed, or at the very least a mattress on the floor with a blanket!

Justin "Beaver"

Yesterday the Champion School hosted a band who tours around Canada, mostly visiting schools, their name is HOJA!  Emry was so excited to tell us about it when she got home from school, this is the conversation we had!

"Mom, the band that came to our school was totally awesome.  And guess what?  Justin "Beaver" was there."
I asked her how she knows who Justin Bieber is?  She said because he told us his name.  The singer she is referring to was actually named Jesse, who sang a Justin Bieber song and had hair just like him too.  She also told me she wants to marry him, but then instantly blushed and said she was embarrassed for saying that.  I told her he was probably a little too old for her anyway!

When Jared got home, she told him all about the band again.  She elaborated a little more with the details.  She said they had no instruments, just microphones, and they made noises with their mouths.  She then proceeded to do the sounds, and again got embarrassed and said she couldn't do it as good as them.  When she told Jared that Justin Bieber was there, he said he was sure it wasn't the real Justin Bieber, she was instantly defensive and said it was the real Justin, and she knows because she got to give him a high five!
I thought it was so adorable how taken she was with them, she even knew when "Jesse" joined the band, earlier this spring.  I am actually surprised she knows who Justin Bieber is, and how enthralled she is with him!  I think Santa may have to get a HOJA album for her stocking!  Actually, I heard they were pretty amazing, and the things they said to the kids is something they will always remember.  At the end of the performance one of the guys told how he always wanted to play on his school basketball team, and how during one of his games his braces got stuck on his opponents jersey.  While he was being pulled down the court by his mouth the entire gym started laughing at him.  He was so embarrassed and instantly wanted to quit.  When he thought about it later, he remembers how much he always wanted to play basketball and he wasn't going to let that one incident stand in his way.  They told the kids that no matter what their interests are they should stick with it even if at times it does get tough.

I do wish Calum and I went in to see them, but I couldn't justify waking him up when he fell asleep instantly in my arms when we sat down for a little quiet time!  I am just so happy Emry got to see them, and that despite Justin "Beaver" being there she was impressed by what they did and what they had to say!

Just in case you didn't get why I wrote "Beaver", Emry came home calling him this!  Too cute to correct!

Extremely Thankful for Family & Friends!

Earlier this week my brother in law, Buck, called and left a message on our phone and said he was coming over on Saturday to help haul all our bales home where it will be easier and quicker to feed the cows this winter.  Jared called Buck back and said he only had 67 more loads with his dads grain truck (they modified it by taking the sides off the box to make it a flat bed!)  Buck's only answer was, "No!"  So Saturday brought Buck, his dad, John, my sister, Arren, and David Mueller, a neighbour down the road to our aid!  Dave and Jared were so thrilled with their willingness.

They had quite a system down, and even with the few setbacks, a truck over heating, another stuck fully loaded with bales, a tractor stuck, and one that wouldn't start for awhile, they were able to get all 468 bales home and stacked!  And stacked in such a neat pile, thanks to Dave!  Calum and I finally ventured out after dark, so around 7 pm to see how it was going.  We got to see Dave and Jared stack the bales from Jared's truck and the system they had down was really quite neat to see.  Dave was using the fancier tractor and could lift two bales at a time off the truck where he would take them over to the big stack and set them down, and Jared would come beside with his Dad's old International tractor and place a third bale on top of Dave's two!  Dave said that John and him had a real system down too!  The way the guys move with the tractors is amazing to me, like the shifters are really just an extension of their arms!

With the extra hands and Buck and John's two tractors and three trucks with trailers they pushed on until 10 pm!  They only stopped for lunch at around 2 pm, which I will brag, I made pizza for the crew and John told Jared I should open a pizza parlour, it was that good!  I always love it when my meals turn out, especially when I am making them for other people!  Anyway, without the help from our family and friends Jared and Dave would have been hauling bales every Saturday for the next three months!!  Now they can focus on finishing the corals, and the alleyway.  And then maybe, fingers crossed, Jared can hang the rest of the drywall in our house!

Christmas Craft Show

On Friday I took Emry and Calum to the Christmas Craft Show in Lethbridge.  I rarely take the kids out to things like this on my own because it is just so much work!  Especially with Calum!  But Emry broke my heart this past week when she told me in the saddest little voice ever that she misses the old days when we used to all play together!  With Jared being so busy and Emry off to school full time we probably haven't done as much as we used to!  But like Jared said, there aren't even any old days when you are only six years old!

So on Friday we ventured down to Lethbridge, we picked up my Grandma Bev and brought her to the Exhibition with us!  It was a lot of fun having her with us, and it was neat to see all the stuff.  It wasn't really what I was expecting though, I thought there would be more Christmas things, it was mostly handmade (expensive!!) gifts that you could buy others for Christmas.  The only picture I took there was of Emry and Calum walking!  Calum didn't want to be in his stroller, which I don't blame him, he sat the whole way into town.  So I put on his Elmo leash, which he hated even more than the stroller!  So I took it off and told him he had to hold my hand.  That didn't last long!  He actually amazed me and decided all on his own to hold onto the stroller while Emry pushed it!  It was so adorable to see!  He absolutely idolizes his big sister, his Emmy!

After looking around for a while, we went to McDonald's for lunch!  The kids had a blast playing on the playplace, and Grandma Bev enjoyed watching them play!  On the way home Calum conked out instantly and Emry took his picture, and a few of herself too!  The pictures of herself are too cute not to share, so I hope you enjoy!

Jared's 34th Birthday!

I made this cake simply from an idea in my head!  It is to represent all Jared has been doing these last few months!

Friday was Jared's 34th Birthday, we wanted to take him to Nanton for the Chinese Smorg, but he really wanted to continue working on the fence for the cows!  So Mom and Dad made grilled cheese sandwiches and Hannah's famous hot cocoa!  We still had a great time, this is one of our favourite meals anyway!  We decided we would have Jared's real birthday dinner and his birthday cake on Sunday!

Emry is reading her note to Jared!

He seems really proud of his little girl!

Jared is looking at her note

He did open his presents friday night, from me he got a new set of apple in-ear headphones for his ipod, Emry and Calum gave him the DVD Date Night, and Mom and Dad gave him a certificate to The Keg!  Emry also made him a little gift!  She wrote him a note on a heart shaped piece of paper that said, Emry loves dad, dogs and cats.  Love from Emry.  I love dad.  She drew a picture at the bottom of herself, a cat and a dog.  Inside the folded up note was a few pennies, a dime and a five dollar bill, she actually got these out of Jared's change jar on his dresser!  When I asked her if she would rather buy him something with that money instead of just giving it back to him, she said no, Daddy needs all this money to finish building our house!  I think he especially liked her gift, it truly came from her heart!  I hope he had a good birthday despite how busy he has been!  On Saturday Dave and Jared finished pounding all the posts and stringing all the wire around the entire perimeter of the home quarter!  They just have two gates to build and about a mile of staples to put in and then the cows can graze until the ground is covered in snow!  Jared will have a little break from feeding every night!  Although he will be building the alley and dividing the coral, and hanging drywall in our house!  Poor guy, does it ever stop?  Maybe his 35th birthday will be a lot less busy, hopefully we will be settled with cows and settled in our house!

For his birthday meal we had steak and baked potatoes!  Jared BBQ's the best steak ever!  We even had a special guest there to share in our birthday celebration!  Myrna's best friend growing up, Linda (Volk) Munroe!  It was nice to meet her, Emry absolutely loved her and had her captive in her room for awhile showing Linda all of her treasures!