Fun at Auntie's?!

My niece, Lily, stayed over night at our house the other night.  She was so excited and had been counting down the days for over a week, I think her mom and dad were more excited that the day finally arrived because that is all she talked about!  We don't usually have school night sleep overs but Arren and Buck had to be in Calgary early the next morning for an appointment with the surgeon who fixed her broken ankles last summer.  I was proud of myself because I got the kids into bed by 8:00pm, but the girls didn't actually fall asleep until well after 10:00pm!  But they all got up in time for Emry to have breakfast, and get her hair done before the bus came!

Before bed the girls had a bath and then after I put Emry's hair in a bun so it would be curly in the morning, Lily saw this and asked if I could do hers too!  This is quite something coming from her, because she will barely let her own mom brush her hair and to put ponies in it is totally forbidden!

In the morning I put a waterfall braid in Emry's hair and again Lily wanted me to do the same!  She looked so adorable!  It didn't last though, with how hard her and Calum played that morning.  And by that I mean they completely emptied Calum's dresser, and most of his closet and put all the clothes plus all Emry's books from her room and blankets and cars on his top bunk of his bed!  I had implemented a new cleaning schedule into our lives and yesterday was my day to vacuum, since the kids were playing so good I just kept on a vacuuming.  When I walked into Calum's room I was stunned with how much stuff was on his bed and when they managed to do it!  I was okay with it, they were having fun and really it was going to be pretty easy to put it all away!  I was just happy that they were playing so good!

I had to go to Vulcan that afternoon to get my blood tested and since Lily's hair was pretty messed up from all their playing I convinced her to let me do it again!  I did it a little differently and she again looked so adorable!  The convincing came at a price for me though, I promised her I would get her a treat while we were in Vulcan!!

So I think it was a fun time at Auntie's!  I love Lily so much and I am so thankful she likes me just as much too!  I love how her and Calum get along so well, and I love how she is so kind and gentle to Armin!  She really is a sweet girl!  I also love the way her mind works especially for a four year old!  While we were having supper last night she asked if she could go outside, for some reason Emry answered and told her NO!  Lily then asked Emry if she would play with her after supper, and again Emry answered with NO!  So Lily answered with "Then why can't I go outside?"  Emry was at a loss for words and I think finally realized she was being a little rude to her younger cousin who absolutely adores her!  The verdict...they did play together and had a great time!

Greener Pasture

We finally got the cows moved to greener pasture, no more bale feeding until winter!  Well, actually we do have 6 cows still here at home who haven't calved yet.  But Jared won't have to feed them quite as often.

It went quite smoothly yesterday, having Dave and Char here to help moved things along quite efficiently.  Sometimes it can be a real nightmare to get the cows to move into the smaller corral by the barn when they are in the bigger one, especially when there is only two of us.  First we separated the cows from their babies, we had originally planned on hauling them to the sand separately but later changed our minds.  So we separated the cows from the calves, then we separated the heifers from the cows, and then we had to separate the ones that have calved from the ones that haven't.  We took the heifers out from the main herd because they are going to my brother in laws to be bred by their bull (a little smaller bull), and Jared really didn't want to move the ones that haven't calved yet because he would have a hard time finding them in the super tall grass on the quarter in the sand.  Despite all the separating the day went quite smoothly.  And like always it was so cute to see them practically dance off the trailer when they saw the fresh green grass.  It was a great day and the best part of moving them is I will probably get counter tops this week!!

No Bull

Today Jared and I, along with the two cutest boys, took our bulls into the vet to be semen tested!  It was quite an interesting process, one that made me a little uncomfortable to watch!  Jared and Myrna and I did joke about how it was done, I jokingly wondered if they had a little room for the bull to go in full of "reading" material!  Jared answered with his usual quick wit, "Yeah, they have 'Bovine Weekly' for them to "look" at!"  So in actuality what they do is put a probe into the bulls bum that sends little electric shocks to stimulate their prostate.  Then the vet would hold a little cup with a bag attached to it to collect the sample.  He would then take the sample over to the microscope to see if the sample was viable and if it was the assistant would take the probe out.  Once the probe was out the bull would regain his composure!  I felt uncomfortable watching because it just seemed like a personal moment and we were standing there gawking at him.  How intruding!!

Anyway, last year about 19 of our cows were open, but we decided to keep them another year and give them a second chance.  We were pretty sure it was because of the quality of the grass they were on the year before, and nutrition can play a big role in fertility.  Thankfully we gave them that second chance because all but one were pregnant this year.  Only 18 other ones were open:(  We bought two bulls last year, a more mature one and then a brand new guy, last year was his first year with any cows.  Since we had so many open again this year, but much better grass we were sure it was the new bull.  They had never been tested so we thought it would be a good way to determine what the problem was.

Well, they both tested good.  There could have been many different factors to make an unbred cow...poor nutrition, lack of water and mineral, disease in the cow, sterile bull, this being the younger bulls first time out...We were able to rule out sterile bull, and poor nutrition, but there were a few days when the water co-op was down and we had to haul water to the cows, they always had water but not enough to give them what they needed in a day.  The tank we use to haul the water is not quite big enough to supply all the cows with water for a full day.  The younger bull is much bigger this year and will probably perform quite well.  And like the vet said, it doesn't help to play the "what if" game, but now we know what we can do differently.

This cattle venture has been an interesting one.  Jared and I have enjoyed it, obstacles and all.  We hope it will start to slow down a bit this summer so we can see each other for more than the time it takes us to eat dinner.  This past week Jared has been out until eleven every night getting posts pounded and wires strung so we can move the cows down to the quarter in the sand we are renting.  The guys got a good deal on this quarter bordering our quarter, all they had to do for rent was build a four wire barbed wire fence, which was a bit of money but less than it would be to rent it for the time the cows are on it.  The grass is well established and will be good for the cows for a while.  I can't wait to see the cows come off the trailer tomorrow, they are going to be kicking and running, so excited for some green food, no more dry old hay!

Happy Father's Day!

This past weekend was a lot of fun!  I can't say that we really did anything truly exciting but I felt like I got to see Jared more than usual!  Friday night we went to the temple with the Puzey clan, to do some work for the names Cora had found.  The names were of those from Mynra's dad's side of the family.  I really enjoyed the session that night and I truly felt a wonderful spirit with me the entire time.  I wonder if it is because the names had more meaning to our family, and those waiting for that work to be done were sitting right there with us rejoicing!

Saturday Jared and Dave worked on building the hub for the new water location on the quarter in the sand.  They came in for lunch, and even though I just fed them grilled cheese sandwiches it was fun because I fed them in our new house!  I love this house more and more each day.  I can't stop saying how proud I am of Jared.

Sunday was Father's Day!  My dad was on the road but I did manage to give him a quick phone call.  I didn't however get the chance to tell him how much I love and appreciate him.  I am so thankful for him in my life and for all he has done for me over the last 30 years.  I admire his motivation and his drive to overcome any obstacle put in his way.  I am thankful he has been an example to me and has inspired me to choose a husband who is as determined and motivated as my dad.

I am also so thankful for the other dad I have in my life, and oh, how much I miss him.  I am so thankful for the opportunity I had in my life to have a father in law who was more of a father than an in law to me.  David was truly an example to me as well, he was so kind and compassionate.  He always wanted the best for everyone and went out of his way to give his service where needed.  I am so thankful Jared has those same qualities as his dad, and how he is such a wonderful reminder of him in every way.

The last dad I want to thank is my husband.  He is such a wonderful dad to our three beautiful children.  He truly is their superhero.  He takes time to play with them, to talk to them, and to give them hugs and kisses.  I love how every morning before he leaves for work he seeks each one out, even if they happen to still be in bed, and gives them each a hug and a kiss.  He truly is an example to them, and I honestly couldn't ask for someone better than Jared to lead and guide them through this challenging world!

I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to know these men so closely.  I am thankful for the  influence they have each had on my life and for the examples they are to me.  Happy Father's Day to the three best dads out there and to all the other dad's who also go above and beyond to care for those they love!

Spock Days and A Little More...

This past week we have been celebrating lots of firsts...first things in our new home!  Wednesday we had our first dinner guest...my Dad!  It was so nice to entertain him in our own home.  I have a real hard time saying our own home because Myrna's home truly felt like home too, and we had my family over quite often for dinner, but it was neat to have him over to "our" real home!

Friday and Saturday we had our first over night visitors...Cora, Leah and Blake stayed with us for the weekend.  Saturday morning we all sat around our beautiful dinner room table and had super yummy french toast before we all piled in our van and the Jetta to go to Spock Days for the annual parade.

This man has been in quite a few Spock Days parades, I often wonder who he is and if he is a real mountain man!

As this girl went by Calum calls out, "Hey, you not 'possed to be standin' on a horse!"

This float will be in the Stampede parade next year to advertise Vulcan's 100th Anniversary.  It was quite spectacular!

These two guys were part of the crew the kids and I saw talking in front of the Trek Station!  They were totally into the whole Star Trek theme!

It was lots of fun, and the weather even cooperated, no RAIN!!!  Although when the sun went behind a cloud it did feel like the temperature dropped a few degrees, which just made us put on a jacket only to take it off when the cloud passed!  We took the kids to the pizza joint for lunch and then Jared left to go back home and do the typical farm work.  The kids and I decided to walk downtown and look around at all the happenings.

We made a stop at the Trek Station, lots of die hard Star Trek fans all around, it was hard not to stare at their bizarre costumes while listening to the funny language they would speak to each other!  The kids were quite fascinated!  When we got downtown the Rocky Mountain Cloggers were just getting ready to perform so we watched them for a little while, it too was neat.  Cora and Leah were more interested in their costumes as they love to design clothes!  After watching for about half an hour it was time to walk back to the van and drive over to the arena where I had to work at the Bouncy House.  The kids were waiting for this all day, especially Cora since I told her she could go in too!  They had a ton of fun and burned a lot of energy.  After jumping and running for a good 2 hours I had intended for them to go home with Myrna but instead her and I took the younger kids to get their faces painted while Cora stayed in the arena to play with Amy, a friend of hers from Vulcan.  The other kids waited so patiently in line to get their faces painted and I must say it was well worth the wait, they all looked so amazing.  By the time everyone was painted it was about time for my shift to end so we went back into the arena to collect Cora and ended up staying right to the end.  Myrna and I would tell the other kids one more time and then it seemed like one more time lasted another 15 minutes!  But it was fun and I am glad they were having so much fun that they wanted to stay with me the whole time.  Myrna and I finally did manage to get them out of there and she took them home while I went to the store to grab a couple of groceries for our first Sunday dinner!

Wolverine

Angel Eyes

Kissing Swans

Skull Fang

The girls stayed over again while Blake stayed at Grandma's.  Our hot water on demand really lived up to its grand reputation, as all three girls had showers and Calum and Armin had a bath, and then even Jared had a shower and not one of them ran out of hot water!  WE even managed to make it to church on time, just on time mind you!!  After church Myrna and Blake came over to join all of us for dinner.  WE had pot roast, yorkshire pudding and rhubarb crisp for dessert.  I was told to take a picture of my presentation of our main dish!  I love using all my dishes from when we lived in Carmangay, I really missed them!

Anyway, it was a great weekend, although I am thoroughly exhausted from the long nights of putting things away, and I am not done yet, but it is coming.  I truly couldn't be happier!  I also really enjoyed spending time with my nieces and nephew and having them at our home.  They are wonderful kids who are all truly well behaved and so good to their cousins, for this I was extremely grateful, especially while I was carting the six of them around Vulcan yesterday, it worked so well because we all looked out for each other.  While we were walking up to the Trek Station Blake said to me "You are so cool because you take us into buildings!"  I am not quite sure what he meant by this but it made me feel good!  

Our First Home Cooked Meal

Tonight I made supper in our new house.  It was so much fun and I couldn't believe how well the kids played while I was busy in the kitchen.  Usually they are running around my feet like crazy people...which usually makes me dread making supper!  I loved it when Jared walked through the door in "our" home just in time for supper.  Not that it was really any different at Myrna's, it just felt different using my own things.  We sat around our new dinning room table, given to us by my mom and dad a couple of Christmases ago, the kids ate so well, I was thoroughly impressed.  Calum only spilled his milk once and didn't even get any food on the chair!  All the kids had a bath before bed, we read stories and said our family prayers and again they all went to bed like little angels!  I was able to move the rest of our stuff into the house without tripping over any little people, now all I have to do is organize, organize, organize!

It has been well worth the wait, again I am so proud of Jared and the long hours he has spent putting love into our home!  I LOVE it and I couldn't ask for anything more...well maybe one thing...a LED/LCD t.v. to put in the basement, slightly larger than the 27" we have there now!  Now that I am in my thirties I am having a hard time reading the menu guide!!  I know there is a much less expensive solution...move the couch closer or do without t.v., I can do the first option but I don't know if I can live without the mind numbing relaxation television brings when the house is quiet for the night!

Really...No Joke!

Last night we spent our first night in our new house!  Although still in complete disarray, it was so much fun!  I even had a bath and as I sank deep into our beautiful tub I felt tension release from my body...it was amazing!  There are still a few things that need to be done and hopefully now that we are there permanently those things will get done much quicker.

This next week will be focussed on putting things away! 

My first bath, and it was soooooo nice!!

The Parts Manager at John Deere asked Jared if we needed a coffee table.  Jared said we did and so Jonathan offered theirs to us.  They were getting rid of it because they were moving and didn't happen to have room for it.  He told Jared that he got it 20 years ago and it has served them well, he also told Jared that it had a cougar on it.  Jared assumed the cougar was engraved in the wood or maybe even etched into some glass.  What he didn't realize was that the coffee table itself was a cougar!  Jared brought it home and set it up in our living room without me seeing and then phoned me late one night from our house and told me to come over and look at our new coffee table.  When I walked in the door, in my housecoat and hair dye in my hair, I should have known something was up because he was waiting for me with his phone to video my reaction.  When I saw it I was quite shocked, I was sure it was some kind of cruel joke, but no joke...Jonathan really did love this table and hoped that it would make us as happy too!  I hate to say this but it is growing on me, I do like it and it does suit the rustic look of our house.  Although once in awhile I will look quickly in the direction of the table and think one of dogs has managed to get into the house.  Sometimes I feel like it is also staring at me and plotting its next kill.  I am pretty sure it is going to stay, it adds character to the house and will be a good conversation starter!!

Excuse the mess, it is still a work in progress!

Our super beautiful railings, Jared only has a little bit left to do. 

Looking up the stairs from the basement, I even got a "curved" staircase, something I have always wanted!!

Calum's big boy bed, we didn't even have to lay with him to fall asleep!

The boy's closet

I truly am so proud of Jared and all the work he has put into our home.  He has been hit hard with responsibility these past few years.  After moving from Carmangay to the farm just 2 months shy of 5 years ago, Jared not only continued to work full time he also helped his dad a lot more on the farm.  He helped during the busy season's while we lived in Carmangay too, but now that we were all out here it was easier for him to be out until well past dark every night, instead of 4-5 times a week.  After a year of weighing out our options of what we should do, we decided to build a house on the home quarter.  This was strongly encouraged both by David and Myrna, and that made the decision feel much more right.  They have always been our best friends and we couldn't think of anyone else we would want to live so close to, I guess that is why it worked out so well for us to live in their basement for the last five years!

We had the hole dug and all the concrete footings poured and then Jared framed the entire house, basement and main floor himself. He did it pretty quick too for never having done it before.  The spring after we started the house Jared had a run in with a tree while Snowboarding and broke his knee.  This laid him up for a good six months.  Despite the broken knee he did still manage to finish up framing the house, he did however hire a local builder to put our roof on.  He put in the windows and doors to make it water proof and helped a friend from Church do our electrical.  He was going to do the plumbing himself but decided to hire that out as well.  He hung all the drywall but had a local guy do the mudding, this same guy also put in all the tile...on the floors and around the showers and tub, as well he also laid the hard wood and put in our kitchen cabinets.  Myrna and Jared worked many long hours painting the entire inside, and Jared has also worked many long hours siding our house.  It has definitely been a process, but one with very rewarding opportunities.

Just before Jared started putting drywall up my step dad passed away forcing Jared to decide what he wanted to do with the cows Dick kept care for us.  Dave and Jared decided it would be a good idea to become partners with the cows and got busy fencing the grassland we have in the sand.  They also built corrals, and more fences around the home quarter.  This of course had to take priority over our house because the cows would start to cost us too much money if we didn't have our own system set up.  That winter David passed away throwing another curve ball our way.  And with Dave living in Coalhurst it put a lot of strain on Jared to keep care of the 57 cows while still working full time.

Just as we were about to start calving for the first time Jared quit his job at Big Sky and started working at John Deere in Vulcan.  Which was perfect timing really because he was much closer to home if there ever happened to be a problem with the cows.  Again our house was put on hold until calving was done, and then we had to move the cows to the sand to graze for the summer where we actually ended up having to haul water to them for a few weeks while Dave was getting their permanent water set up.  The cows have become more familiar to us and Jared is able to work on the house in between checking, feeding and tagging, walking cows into the barn to pull a calf, milk ones with bad utters or just walking through them at night when it was too muddy to drive anything into the field.  Despite all this we have finally moved in, and although Jared looks like he has aged five extra years he has done a wonderful job at balancing out life as best he could without letting us, his family, feel deprived of his attention.

I am looking forward to the many, many, MANY years to come as we make our house a HOME!  I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law to be able to put up with us invading her space for so many years, and also becoming squished into one small corner of her own house as our family grew from only three members to five in 3 years.  It has been a blessing in my life to have her as a friend, an example and a huge support in my life.

We now get to watch Dave build his home and move his family to this wonderful farm.  He will soon get a taste of what it has been like for Jared these past few years with juggling family, work, building a house, checking and feeding cows, his church calling...and then whatever else was thrown his way.  I have pity on them but I know if they are as patient as we were it will all come together eventually!  Like I tell my yoga students, "Yoga is a journey not a destination!"  So, too, has our house been a journey, a journey we are still on to make it a home, to fill it with love and security, to make it a place our children always want to be and always want to come back to.