Root Beer Conessieur

We love root beer as a family and there is a lot of different kinds of root beer on the market!! More in the United States than here, so when we went to Great Falls for a little vacation we bought six different kinds to taste test! The kinds we bought were Virgil's, Henry Weinhard's, Frostie, Bull Dog, Bedford's, and Brownie.  Jared poured them all into cups and then mixed up all the bottles.  We all went to town tasting them.  Some were delicious, I had my suspicions which they were because I had tasted them before. Some were horrible, worse than medicine!!!  But the kids had fun guessing which was which. Henry Weinhard's was the best by far and Bulldog's was the worst.  Calum and I liked the caramel flavour in Brownie.  Virgil's was just okay, and Frostie and Bedford's had too much of a cherry taste.  P.S. excuse the mess in the background of the pictures, we are slowly getting back to normal...I am standing upright now and limping around!!!

Trek

Emry was able to participate in a Pioneer Trek this summer with our Stake and Cranbrook Stake.  The trek took place near Cranbrook on the Mallard farm.  Jared and I were supposed to go as a Ma and Pa but since I broke my ankle we had to back out.  Emry was so nervous about going without us but she didn't once say that she didn't want to go, I was proud of her for being brave.  We didn't take her up, she caught a ride with Dave and Char, so I had no idea who her Ma and Pa would be or if there was anyone in her family she knew.  Her Ma and Pa turned out to be from our Stake, so she will see them often and develop the relationship she made with them.  She also was in a family with Cora, I was so happy about that because I knew Cora would take her under her wing and introduce her to other kids.  It was a great experience for Emry, she came home a much more mature young woman.


The trek was a lot of hard work, the first day was a big day, a lot of walking in extreme heat.  But Emry preserved and didn't get sick.  The first two nights the kids slept in a tent, one night they slept in it without the fly so they could see the stars, the next two nights they slept out in the open and saw lots of shooting stars.  Emry said they saw one that went slowly right across the entire sky.  Pretty cool experience. There were lots of re-enactments along the way to show the kids what the early Saints went through to get to the Salt Lake Valley.  She really thought the one about Porter Rockwell was the best.  When we went out to bring her home we were able to watch the entire group crest over the hill and walk into the yard.  A truly neat experience.  After they all gathered in a circle in the yard there was one last re-enactment.  A husband and wife were at the top of the hill with their handcart and small family.  The husband collapsed and it was up to the wife to carry on.  You could see her on her knees praying and then out of nowhere angels in white came to the wagon and helped her push the remaining way.  It was powerful and I truly felt the spirit of what the Saints had to endure.  I so wish Jared and I could have been there throughout the entire Trek, but the Lord knows what we can handle and he probably knew I wouldn't be able to physically do the Trek.

It was so good to see our girl walking in with her family.  Once she was close enough we gave her a hug and welcomed her home!!  Her Ma and Pa told Jared and I that she was an absolute delight to have in their family, she was a hard worker and never complained...hmmmmm!!!!  Not quite the Emry I pictured but I was happy to hear this...just kidding!!! She is an exceptional girl and I wasn't really surprised when they told me this!!!  Her Uncle Bob too, pulled us aside and told us how wonderful she was.  He said each family had to have a good dynamic to work and she was a big part of their family dynamic being a good one!!!  She wanted to go right home instead of staying for the lunch, we told her we could stop at Boston Pizza in Fernie and she was all over that!!!  She said she was craving pizza all week!!!


I was glad she had the experience to endure a small piece of what our early Latter-day Saints had to endure.  It gave her a deeper understanding of their suffering and all they had to leave behind to find a better life.  I am grateful she is being raised in such a wonderful church, that she has had these teachings starting from such a young age.  She is a remarkable young woman, who I love with all my heart.

Toone and Puzey Outing

In July we were invited by Bill Toone, David's cousin, to have a hotdog roast in the hills.  Bill owns land west of Claresholm into the foothills.  He runs his cattle there in the summer so we had some extra company too!!  Because of the fireban in the southern part of the province we weren't able to roast hotdogs, but the Toone's brought them and they were still warm and yummy. After dinner we were all asked to introduce ourselves, say who our parents are and one thing we are thankful for.  Almost everyone there said they were thankful for family.  Neat how one word can connect us all.  After we said a closing prayer, Emily and Macie sang a silly song, Bill's granddaughters, while they were singing Armin asked me if he could sing a song.  I told him he'd have to ask Bill, and to my surprise he did.  Once the girls were done their song Bill said there was one more number and Armin got up and sang his song that his Kindergarten class sang at their graduation.  He is such a performer, no fear at all.

After Armin's song most everyone went for a hike up the hill from the creek to see a "bear".  I had to stay back because of my ankle :( but I was able to have a good visit with Bill and Rita (Bill's wife) and Bill's sister's.  The hike took Jared and the kids until almost dark, they were such troopers and had so much fun with new found cousins.  It was great to catch up and though I debated about whether or not to go with my broken ankle, I am really glad I went.




Although this summer has been rough with not being able to do much, we are making the most of it and having fun being together as a family.  Our house has been through the depths of despair with toys strewn all around, but two little elves came in one day while we were gone and cleaned from top to bottom!!!!  It was so nice of my mom and sister to do this for us, Calum said our house was clean enough to sell!!!  My ankle is healing well, still sore from time to time, at least the scars look cool!!  I get to see the surgeon again on August 24 and should be able to walk right out the hospital without my aircast on.

Weekend With Grandpa

Last month the boys got to spend a weekend with Grandpa Glen.  They had so much fun and from what I hear they even behaved themselves!!  They went to a movie, Spiderman Homecoming!  They bought Lego sets to keep at Grandpa's house and they went to the Airplane Museum in Nanton.  They ate pizza, hot dogs and ice cream!!!

It was so nice of my dad to take them for the weekend especially since I was totally out of commission to entertain them!


My ankle is healing well, I have another week and a half with no weight bearing, and then I can start walking on it wearing my aircast!  It is so nice to have family and friends who have been looking out for us.  The many meals that have been brought to us, or flowers as a pick me up, the house cleaning and rides to the pool!!!  All of it has been greatly appreciated.


Thank you dad for taking such good care of the boys!!!  So much so that they can't wait for the next sleep over!!!