May Long Weekend

Our May long weekend started a little earlier than usual!  We were able to reserve a camp site at Little Bow Park from Thursday to Monday.  So Thursday after Jared and I were finished work we headed home and packed our clothes, food and sleeping bags and we headed down to the park!!  Our campsite was perfect, nice and big with a couple of big climbing trees, a fire pit and a picnic table!!  We have NEVER gone camping on May long weekend or ever had the desire to go, the weather is always miserable and its not even summer yet!! But since we bought our new camper we were itching to try it out!  And if the weather turned miserable as it usually does we could always cuddle up inside a nice warm trailer with a working furnace!!!!  Or we could pack up and head home!!!  As is uncommon for us our regular bad luck did not follow us this particular weekend...the weather was gorgeous, everyday was nicer than the one before, the perfect temperature made for a perfect camping trip.

 






Friday morning Jared woke up early to head home to check cows before heading to work for the day.  The kids and I just hung out at the campsite, we went to the beach where they all built sand castles and the boys went in the water.  It was so cold, Emry braved it up to her knees and then came back to sit on the warm sand.  We had hot dogs and smores over the fire that night and went to bed way too late.

Saturday we were treated to pancakes and sausage by Jared and then headed into Claresholm to look at a truck, we were just looking and getting a feel for how much it would cost to get into a truck...it turns out that it would cost too much to get everything we would want!  So, back to the campsite we went and headed straight for the beach, another gorgeous day for building sand castles and swimming!!  Myrna, my mom and Mark joined us for delicious hamburgers flame broiled over the fire!!  We hung out and visited while the kids rode bikes and played with new found friends.

Sunday we got up early and headed home where we showered and got ready to go to church!  It turned out that our neighbors at the campsite were also members and were at church too!!  Later that afternoon they came over to our site and visited for awhile, and then that evening they invited us over to their site to teach us a new card game!  It was lots of fun getting to know them.  Funny how small our world can become when we let people into our lives!!!  Myrna came back to the park and had fire broiled steak and baked potatoes with us.  Sooooo yummy!!!  By this day, Calum mastered riding a bike so we hardly saw him and Armin had made a friend so we hardly saw him too!!

Sadly, Monday was our last day.  We didn't get up too early or really start packing up until noon.  We just enjoyed the beautiful weather.  We didn't have to go inside the trailer much. Calum hung out a little bit in there to either play with his action figures or to play on his DS.  It was nice to crawl into when we wanted a quick little afternoon nap, but we played cards around the fire, cooked on the fire or the stove we brought, and just enjoyed being together.  Armin too, by our last day mastered riding a bike.  I was so proud of our boys and how quickly they caught on!!




It was a great May long weekend, with many new memories made.  Thankfully our new to us camper did not blow over in the wicked wind we had yesterday, so we will get much use out of it this summer and for many more to come!!!

Spring Fling and Mother's Day

Last Thursday was the Spring Fling at the School! The kids did such a great job!  Calum's class played 2 songs on the recorder, he was so cute doing this.  With every note he blew into the recorder he would nod his head!!!  He also danced in a flash mob for the song Uptown Funk played by the Junior High Band!!! You could tell he was shy but he did it right along with the rest of the kiddos, I was so proud of him!!!


Emry is playing the trumpet in school and has really been enjoying it, she has come a long way since the beginning of the year and can almost play all the notes!!

Last week we also surprised the kids with a new to us camper!  We do really enjoy camping but tenting it was getting a bit old, especially when we like going to Waterton and we can't be sure we won't break any tent poles with the gale force winds there!!!  Jared happened to be driving to Little Bow for work when he saw a camper for sale on the side of the road, he got the number and called them later that day.  They were asking $3500 for it so Jared thought he'd offer $3000 and they readily accepted!!! So we became the proud owners of a 1976 Prowler!!! 

We told the kids we were going out on a date Friday night, when really we were picking up our trailer.  We got pizza to bring home and eat in the camper with the kids.  Were they ever surprised!! Speechless surprised!!!!  They checked out every nook and cranny, opened the bunk beds and just enjoyed the space!!  We couldn't sleep in it that night because we had a really early morning the next day but we did sleep in it Saturday night and had a great sleep!! The boys even slept in!!! We aren't planning on taking it very far as we don't really have a truck to pull it with, we are just using the one ton right now.  But we have a trip to Little bow planned for this weekend, weird, I never thought I'd be one of those people who camp on May Long Weekend, but here we are and super excited!!!  Being at Little Bow gives Jared the opportunity to go home and do his cattle chores when its his turn, or field work if he needs to!! And the best thing, no cell reception or wifi, so it will just be us and nature for 4 whole days!!

 



  As for Mother's Day, it was a very nice day!! We were able to go to church where we were spoiled with homemade gifts from the Primary kids and chocolates from the Ward.  We had my Mom and Mark and Owen over for dinner, where we had an easy meal of steak and baked potatoes.  I had a nap and just enjoyed being with my family.  I am so thankful for the two mom's I have.  They both inspire me in different ways and are wonderful examples to me of what a mother should be.  I always wanted to be a mom and am so thankful I have had the opportunity to be one 3 times over!  Though, I won't lie, it is hard, harder than I thought it would be. But at the end of the day when I am laying in bed reviewing all I am thankful for, my children always come to mind first!! Even though they are loud, they fight and make messes, I love each one so much.  I love how unique they all are, and how different they are. It was a beautiful Mother's Day!!

Delude Goat Farm

Last week the Kindergarten class went out to the Delude's to see their baby pygmy goats!!  With such a small class this year we were able to all fit in two cars and away we went on the short 10 minute drive to their farm.  It was a beautiful day, very hot already for mid morning!  The baby goats were about a month old and a little hard to catch to be able to hold, but the kids had fun trying!! 

 

They also got to feed the momma goats some oats, as well as the llama!  It was nice to have Mackenzie and Diane there to answer any questions the kids had and to catch a baby goat or two for the kids to hold!  It was a great field trip for the kids and for the adults too! 

When Jared saw the picture of Armin holding a baby goat he said he wanted to get one for him!!

Alas, We Have a Teenager!!!!

Emry turned 13 last week!! How is that possible? She is such a delight to have around!!  I love my kind hearted, fun loving, sensitive girl!  She had lots to celebrate for her 13th birthday! 

It started with a birthday dinner on the day of her birthday.  We had Uncle Buck, Auntie Arren, Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Mark, Grandpa Glen, Gilbert and Lily over to help us celebrate.  I made homemade spaghetti sauce the night before so it was staying warm in the slow cooker all day!  Our house smelled amazing for the big event!!  One of Emry's favourite meals is spaghetti so we had that and garlic bread.  We had her favourite dessert too, no bake cheesecake!

Saturday, Jared and I took Emry to the city to go shopping for some clothes and out for a nice dinner!  It was the first time we had been with her just one on one!  It was so fun being with her in that element!  She found some cute golf shirts and shorts and even a pair of capris!!! Spoiled girl!!!

Sunday, we celebrated her special day with Grandma Puzey!  We had her other favourite meal of salmon!  It turned out to be really yummy, a new recipe I tried that had me marinate the salmon for a few hours, this really was flavourful!! We also had mint lemonade slush and baked potatoes!  Another great celebration for a great girl!

I am so thankful for our girl!  I couldn't ask for a better daughter.  She is extremely helpful, she plays with her younger brothers, she helps Jared with the cows (and loves every minute of it!!), she is kind and inquisitive!!  She has a passion for the cows and knows them almost as well as Jared does!  She has many great ideas and often comes up with one before Jared and I has had a chance to think a problem through!  She is neat and tidy and likes things in their proper place!  I couldn't imagine anyone else fulfilling the role of a lifelong friend!  I love her to pieces and am so thankful I get to be her mom!  Happy birthday to a very special girl!!