Mutton Bustin'

This August marked the third year that we have attended the Carmangay Mini Rodeo held during their annual Sports Day & Fair!  Emry rode a sheep for her third and final time!  I think the sheep will be totally grateful to have her move on, it looked like it was having trouble staying upright with Emry on it's back!

Calum got to ride a sheep for the first time this year!  I tried desperately to get him registered last year, but you had to be four and he hadn't even turned three yet!!  They let him this year only because his fourth birthday is in September!  He had a blast!  I wasn't sure what he would think of it but he was raring to go and hung on for dear life with a great big grin on his face!  He did cry a little when he fell off, but so did every kid, including those who have been doing it for years!  Both Emry and Calum got Participation trophies, which are really quite cute!  Emry now has three trophies with a sheep on top, and Calum has one!  Lily won second place for the second year in a row!  And both Calum and Lily made the local paper!  Calum the front page of the Advocate and Lily in the Regional!

It was a fun time with my mom and my sister and her family!  It is always too hot, with not a tree in sight!  But the company is fun and the hot dogs and giant freezies are always a hit too!  I had walked up to the house where they had the concession set up to get Calum, Armin and Lily a hot dog!  While we walked back down to the rodeo they ate their grub.  By the time we got back Calum had finished his hot dog and started on his freezy!  He was still hungry so he asked for another hot dog, I had just gotten everyone settled and wanted to watch Emry's age group do the cow milking.  I gave Calum a toonie and told him to go up to the concession and get himself another hot dog, I also told him that the ladies would give him a loonie back in change and to put it in his pocket.  I could watch him walk the entire way so I felt good about letting him go off on his own.  He walked up there like a real pro, slightly distracted by the people, fences, bugs or anything in general in his line of sight, but he made it!  On the way back I noticed he wasn't carrying a hot dog, but instead an orange freezy!  When he got back I asked him where his hot dog was, he answered "I dropped it up there!" I then asked where the loonie was that he was supposed to get back after paying for his hot dog, he said "I gave it to the lady and she gave me an orange freezy!"  Well, I guess he did what he was supposed to with just a little treat on the side!  I was pretty proud of him for going on his own and being honest with me when he got back!  He is a sweet little boy and really has a tender heart under all his ninja actions!

Girls Club

My dad took Emry and Lily on their annual girls club day!  This year he wanted to take them to the salon to get their hair and nails done!  The girls had an absolute blast, they totally idolize their Grandpa!  The day started out at Chatters where Emry and Lily each got a haircut, and then they both got a manicure!  They were in heaven when they were able to pick any colour they wanted to put on their nails, and they each picked two different colours...Lily, purple and blue and Emry, blue and orange!

Emry's first salon experience!

After their spa treatment we went for lunch at Moxie's, and then off to the mall to get a new outfit for school!  Arren was beside herself with excitement when Lily picked out a girly skirt and a sparkly sweater!  So together the girls got a new outfit, both skirts...Lily picked a blue one (I am starting to see a pattern...blue must be Lily's favourite colour!) and Emry picked out a leopard print skirt!  She also found an adorable leopard print hat with the bright pick ribbon tied around it.  So to complete the outfit we found a bright pink shirt and black tights.  Lily found a sweater to match her skirt and a silver shirt as well as a silver sparkly headband!  They had fun picking clothes with Grandpa Glen and even came up with a new word for everything they saw...Funky Chicken!

After shopping Arren and I went to do our shopping while dad took the girls to Toys R Us to pick out a baby shower gift for my cousin and then it was off to a movie with his two special girls!  He took them to see "The Odd Life of Timothy Green", which they said was super good!  Dad even said it had been a long time since he teared up in a movie!  While dad and the girls were walking through the mall Dad had said something about funky chicken and I don't know if Lily just had enough of the silly saying but I guess she turned to Emry and said, "If he doesn't stop with the funky chicken I am going to give him a funky chicken!"  She comes up with some pretty cute things and truly has a mind of her own!

After the movie we all met at McDonald's!  It was a fun day for all of us, I had a great afternoon with my favourite sister in the whole wide world, even though all we did was grocery shop, it was still fun to be with her!  I really admire our friendship!  I know the girls had a blast with Grandpa Glen, the next day Emry couldn't stop talking about the great time she had and she wore her new hat all day, it really looks so cute on her!

I admire my dad for the time he takes to be with his girls, especially when it required sitting in a salon and shopping!  They are making memories that will truly last forever, I am so thankful they have a grandpa so close and one they can look up to and go to for anything they may need!

Martin

In March 2001, the cutest little puppy was born!  Jared and I were not even married, or engaged for that matter, but we knew we wanted to get a puppy.  Neighbours of my mom were selling Golden Labrador puppies and so we went for a look, and instantly fell in love.  They were such a pretty colour, butterscotch!  The runt of the litter was the one we had our eyes set on.  The family was only charging $100 for purebred Labs, how could we pass that up?!  So our rubber arms were twisted and we left with the cutest puppy ever!  Now to name the little guy!  We finally decided on Martin, after Jared's favourite guitar!  And did the name ever suit him.  Martin lived with Jared on his mom and dad's farm, and when I came home on the weekends we would usually spend our time with Martin.  We would take him down to Baldwin's crossing to go for a swim in the river, something he absolutely loved!

Steve really liked Martin too!  You would often see them together when he came out to the farm.

When Jared and I got married the next February we didn't take him to live with us in Carmangay because we didn't think it would be fair to keep him confined to a yard when he was used to roaming all around the farm, but that doesn't mean we didn't bring him for visits!  He loved car rides, all we had to say was, "Martin, you wanna go for a ride?" And his ears would perk up and he would run to the back of the truck waiting for us to put the end gate down!  We also brought him home with us to Carmangay every Christmas Eve so he could spend Christmas with us!

Martin's First Birthday present, a brand new shiny red collar!

One of many Christmas Eve's!

We celebrated Martin's 1st birthday with a homemade dog food filled cake!  Our first Christmas card sent to everyone included Martin!  And once Emry came along she giggled every time she saw him!

The summer after Emry was born, mid 2004, Martin ran full speed into the decorative Sickle Mower and cut his shoulder open quite badly.  We took him to the vet and she fixed him up real good, the cutest thing ever was that he got to wear a women's 3/4 length sleeve t-shirt so he wouldn't lick the wound.  He looked so adorable and it fit him perfectly!  I think he really missed that shirt once it finally disintegrated off him!

Martin in his shirt!

Once we moved out to the farm in 2007, Emry had just turned 3, and she would spend hours outside with Martin.  She leash trained him that year as a three year old, she would clip the leash on and he would walk right beside her for hours.  This was quite amazing since I could hardly stay upright with Martin when I tried to walk him on a leash!  They were always together and I didn't worry about Emry at all when she was outside because I knew Martin was always right with her!

As the years went on, Martin definitely started to look older, his fur around his face started to turn grey, and one winter we were sure he wasn't going to make it, he had gotten so skinny, and his hips were starting to seize up and it would take him awhile to get up.  He also slowed down a lot, instead of running to greet us he would walk.

Martin was always where ever we were, usually just laying down, but he wanted to be right with Jared all the time!

We did get another lab puppy in 2009, so Martin could be an example to him before he did get too old.  I am so happy we did this because I think Gibson is quite a bit like Martin.

Emry saw these stuffies after she went to the dentist and thought they looked just like her puppies, she named them Martin and Gibson! 

When we moved over our house, both the dogs just instinctively knew who their master was!  Even though Jared still fed them in the kennel at Myrna's they always hung out on the step at our house!  And at night they will sleep by our front door!  I was so happy when they did this, I really like having them around; and as annoying as it was at times when Martin would lay in front of the door and not even make an effort to move while we tried to get out the door, it was also quite sweet!

Yesterday, August 19, 2012 Martin passed away.  Emry and Jared had gone outside for a walk and when Emry couldn't find Martin she went and looked for him.  She found him in their kennel laying against the fence, quite peacefully, his eyes were open but he didn't move when she went up to him.  She ran out and told Jared that she thought he had died because he wasn't moving.  She was pretty upset, they were really good pals!  It was so sad, but also expected at some point, he was almost 12 years old in human years so we figured that made him almost 84 in dog years.  We will forever miss him, but we are so thankful for the memories we had with him and for the amazing dog he was, he truly was a member of our family.  We loved Martin so much and we will miss him!

Our old boy!

Summer Storms!

There is something quite exhilarating about a storm!  I find the way they move in so quickly quite fascinating.  The force that is sometimes behind the storm is also somewhat perplexing, the damage that a storm can cause and in not a lot of time either.  The storm that rolled through here only lasted about half an hour with high winds and hard rain, and then the occasional flash of lightening and rumble of thunder for another half an hour!  Thankfully this storm did not leave disaster in its wake, but it was still unsettling to be in the middle of!

As we were sitting in the living room waiting for 4:30pm to roll around so we can take Emry to swimming lessons a huge storm rolled in!  I was sitting in the chair in the corner and I could see the dark clouds forming to the north!  I knew that Jared was on a service call near Gleichen so I messaged him to see what the weather was like where he was...he messaged me back saying that it was super windy and raining really hard!

Only 10 minutes later the wind started to blow here...Emry was, in her own words, "totally freaked out!" The wind was coming in completely sideways and instead of rain we had fox tale blowing by!  The stroller flipped over and Emry's bike blew over, but nothing too serious!  Emry was sure the cars were going to blow away too!  The rain came but it only came down, or sideways, for about 20 minutes!  Needless to say, Emry's lessons were cancelled, probably a good idea!

Always my favourite part of any summer storm...the peace, beauty and comfort of a rainbow.  It brings such a sense of renewal to the earth!

Thankfully I was able to rake the little bit of hay we had cut yesterday morning and when Jared got home from work was able to bale it!  We knew the forecast was for rain on Tuesday but I didn't believe it when I woke up this morning with how beautifully sunny it was, it is really quite amazing how quickly a storm can move in!

We are officially done baling, even though we only had around 200 acres to bale it seemed to take quite some time!  Jared was able to stack some of the bales Saturday morning while he was waiting for the stuff that was cut to cure, so all we have to do is stack and haul the rest home...thankfully it isn't quite as pressing as the actual baling!

I think stay at home movie night is in order for us tonight, fully equipped with popcorn!

First Boat Ride of the Season...August 8th, 2012!

On Jared's last day of holidays we wanted to do something fun with the kids, especially since he will start working Saturday's at John Deere until harvest is over!  So we thought of a few things to do...boating at Little Bow, Calaway Park, Go Carts at Evergreen Golf Course in Lethbridge, hiking in Waterton...Calaway Park was too expensive, Go Carts were only for kids 13 years old or older, Waterton was too far, so that left boating at Little Bow!  This was Emry's first choice so she was totally happy!  The only problem, that silly bull had gotten in with the heifers again so our day was cut really short!  By the time we got him back in and the fence fixed, had lunch, and put Armin down for a nap, it was 5:00pm!  Thankfully the lake is close and the sun would be up for a few more hours!

We got to the lake at 6:00 and decided we had better get a hotdog and an ice cream cone before we put the boat in the water, in case it was closed when we were finished.

As soon as we pulled away from the docks Armin started to really whimper!  He did not like the boat at all!  We were sure it was going to be a miserable ride with him crying, but as he got used to it he started to smile and he even released his death grip on my arm!

When we got further out into the lake Jared attached the tubes to the back and in jumped Emry and Calum, and boy did they have a blast!  Calum couldn't stop smiling, his grin was from ear to ear!  It was his first time on the tube all by himself and he was so proud of himself!  Emry got cold after a good 20 minutes so Jared took her place, and Calum was even more excited to be beside his dad in the water.  After another 20 minutes Jared was ejected from his tube since he was riding it on his knees!  I turned the boat around to pick him up and once Calum was next to him again he decided to jump in...well it was quite a shock to his little body, the water was so cold and thankfully Jared was right next to him, because he started to panic a little.

Once they were in the boat we drove over to a beach and let the kids play in the sand for awhile!  Armin was having a great time, he would fill a little sand toy with water and then carry it over to a hole that someone had dug in the sand and dump what water was left in his toy, usually one little drop!  He did this for quite some time.  Emry, Calum and Jared swam and I also played in the sand!  There is something really relaxing about playing in sand!

We left the tubes on the shore and then went for a little drive around the lake.  We saw the new Bible Camp building and Jared took us to his favourite spot, Wolf's Coulee, then we headed back to the beach and picked up our tubes and had Calum and Emry ride in them back to the dock.  They didn't last nearly as long as their first ride but still had a great time!  It was a nice end to Jared's holiday.  The kids have so much fun doing just simple things!  I was happy we were able to do something together!