Father's Day

I am so thankful for my dad!!  I love talking to him on the phone every few days and seeing him when he gets the chance to pop over!!  My dad has taught me a lot, he is knowledgeable in many things!  He is hard working and motivated and is always giving me good advice!  I didn't get to see my dad father's day but I was able to talk to him on the phone!  He loves his grand kids unconditionally and would do anything for them, he is always taking them on adventures!  I am so thankful for him!!

I am also very thankful for Jared and for the dad he is to our three precious children!!  As difficult as it is raising kids Jared stays patient and talks with our kids instead of blowing up at them!!  He is kind and loving and teaches our kids many things.  They are always by his side helping on the farm in some form or another!  He is a great example of what a dad is and I am so thankful he is in my life!!

President Nelson

Last week we had the opportunity to listen to President Nelson, our beloved Prophet, and his lovely wife Wendy Watson Nelson speak to the youth and their parents and leaders.  It was wonderful, very uplifting and just what I needed.

Sister Nelson showed a picture of a forest with trees standing tall then she showed a picture of a tree with lots of knots in it, a very crooked tree, and said this was how she felt among the trees that were standing tall and asked if we too ever felt that way.  She said to stop comparing ourselves to others.  She then asked what were we born to do?  She answered saying with the Lord's help we can do anything.  I enjoyed her talk so much, she is an amazing woman so full of the spirit.

President Nelson was powerful, I could feel his love for ME radiating through the television!  He talked about Joseph Smith being a True Prophet of God, and said if any of us lack wisdom to do as Joseph did and ask of God.  We need to ask in the name of Jesus Christ to guide us and by doing so we will have all the directions we will ever need in our life and we will feel joy and peace!  He challenged us to do 5 things that will change us and the world.

1. Disengage from Social Media (Seven day Social Media fast).

2. Weekly sacrifice of time to the Lord (three weeks).

3. Keep on the Covenant Path.

4. Pray daily for all to receive the blessings of the gospel.

5. Stand out, be different and be a light.

And then just one week later we got to hear from President Nelson and Sister Nelson again at a Southern Alberta wide broadcast!  They visited Edmonton, Calgary and Raymond.  We were fortunate enough to be able to see them speak in Raymond via television!  We also had the opportunity to hear from Elder Rasband and his wife who were both wonderful!  Sister Rasband talked about being obedient, she told a cute story of when she came into a meeting late and as she looked around for a seat her eye caught President Nelson's.  He pointed to a seat right in the front row and smiled at her, she smiled back and gently shook her head no!  He persisted by motioning with his finger to come she was reluctant but eventually gave in and made it to the front of the meeting room.  She likened it to being obedient to the Lord.  We are sometimes reluctant to obey but as we obey we will be blessed.

Elder Rasband spoke a lot about President Nelson and how he was given the reassurance that he needed from the Lord that he truly is a prophet of God.  He challenged each of us to get that same reassurance if we haven't already done so.  So powerful...

Sister Nelson spoke a lot about her personal life with the Prophet.  She talked about inspiration from the Holy Ghost and what a blessing it can be in our lives.  She said to have pictures on the walls of our ancestors, and of the temple!!!  She talked of our sacred lineage.

President Nelson was the final speaker and he was amazing.  I enjoyed every minute of him speaking, I wished he didn't stop!  I felt so enlightened.  He is a very spiritual man and I am so grateful he is our Prophet who will lead and guide us during these last days.  For being 93 years old he knows the world, he knows the challenges we are facing and what we need to do to overcome those challenges.  I felt like he knew me, and my challenges and he was speaking directly to me, I could literally feel his love for ME, as I am sure many others could too!!  He spoke about the Book of Mormon and how it can bless our lives. 

I am so thankful I got to listen to him speak two weeks in a row.  I needed a little pick me up and I'm happy I didn't have to wait until conference in October.  I feel blessed to have had this opportunity and uplifted and ready to take on whatever challenges may come.

Annual Cattle Drive

Friday we held our annual cattle drive.  We walked the cows to greener pasture for the summer!! This year both our boys helped out, Jared and I were thinking it was the first year Calum has been out to help.  He is usually terrified of the cows and won't come anywhere near them.  But this year he got right in and even walked behind the cows moving them ahead, and he rode the quad up ahead of me driving the tractor to block off an entrance into a field so the cows would not go in!  He was a huge help!!  Emry invited her best friend, Cale, along to help and he too was a huge help when Emry had to get off the quad they were riding together he trudged along and kept the cows off the field!!  We needed everyone there who helped, Dave, Char and Blake and even little Armin!!  At one point I looked back while driving the tractor up ahead of the crew and saw little Armin waving his arms while walking behind cows wearing his ginormous quad helmet!!  It was quite the sight to see!!

Jared decided to stay down with the cows for a couple of hours after we got them to the pasture we wanted them to be in.  He wanted to make sure the calves paired with their mommas and they didn't start walking back home like last year!  He enjoyed the peacefulness with the occasional mooing.  If he saw a calf looking for its mother he would get the number of the calf and then go find its mom and push them together!!  This worked really well, we had no calves wander back home!!

It was a great day, one I always look forward to...now a little break before baling starts :(

Tree Planting and Gardening

This past month we got trees in the mail from the shelter belt program!  We received 30 white spruce and 30 golden willows!  The shelter belt program is no longer free but we didn't have to pay a ton for them.  Now we just have to keep them alive!!  The trees we did get for free from the shelter belt program a few years ago have all perished!  Even after watering them semi diligently they still died because gophers and rabbits ate them :(  thankfully all we were out was our time but that is still fairly priceless.

This year the boys got right into helping us, Armin even had a system down.  He would wheel his wheel barrow to each hole, fill it with a scoop of potting soil, Jared would put a tree into the hole and fill it with dirt, making sure to pack it nice and firm around the tree.  Armin would then cover the ground around the tree with mulched up bark and water it!  He had the potting soil and mulch in the the wheel barrow and the hose hooked onto the handle!!  It was a very efficient way to plant trees!  He stayed with Jared until the bitter end.  And after, the boys were rewarded to a campfire with marshmallows!!  I was away at the CCHS Drama presentation with friends and Emry was at Stake Youth Conference!  So we were not much help at all!!

May long weekend we put our garden in the ground!  Again Armin was out helping Jared and this time Emry!  What I thought would be a small garden turned into a huge garden!!  I didn't help much because I was making a meal to take to our new neighbors!!  We also helped them move into their temporary home until the renovations are finished at their forever home that same day!!  It was a long day but very productive!!!

I hate gardening, I did not get that bug from from my mom or my grandma's!  But I do love the fruits of our labors from having a garden!!  Emry is using this opportunity to pass off a 10 hour value project from her Young Women's personal progress so I am leaving a lot of the weeding up to her, with the help of Jared of course, since it is he who always wants to plant the garden!!!  I will help when and where I am needed!!!

What's Been Happening

Emry passed her Learner's test in May and has been driving everywhere when we get into the vehicle!!  It took her a couple of tries but when she did finally pass it she aced the test!!!  She is such a responsible young woman who wants to please everyone!!!  Hmmmm!!! Reminds me of someone else I once knew!!!

Emry did very well at her Junior High Track meet, which was held in Vulcan!  She placed second in discus and was able to move onto the zone competition, which were in Lethbridge!!  We had a little bit of trouble finding where zones were being held and finally after much adventure of driving around the University and with the help and guidance of Mr. Jackson on the phone we found the place with 15 minutes to spare!!  She did her best but out of the 18 girls competing she didn't make it into the top 8!  We had fun together, and lots of laughs, I love hanging out with my girl!

Calum has had a horrible mop top with his hair, in fact I would tease him that I was going to use his head to mop the floor!!!  When styled it didn't look too bad but let's face it what 9 year old is going to style his hair?!?!  It was always hanging down into eyes and just looked terrible!  Jared was able to cut the sides and that helped but it still wasn't great!  Finally, after much pleading from us and many tears from him Jared got the job done!  He has such a handsome face and his eyes are really quite stunning!!!  After he looked at himself in the mirror he did say he hated his dad for ruining his hair but I think he likes it now that he's gotten used to it!!!

Before (though its been styled, you can see how long it was in the front!!)

After...

The Champion Grade 9 Grad was last Friday and the Grade 8 class is responsible for serving and cleaning up after the banquet!  A friend of mine and the mom of Emry's best friend was in charge of the dinner and decorating!  She had asked me if I would be able to help in the kitchen and make 2 angel food cakes!  Well I remembered about the helping part but totally forgot about the angel food cakes.  It wasn't until I saw others with their cakes that I remembered!  I felt horrible!!  Luckily I had time to run to Vulcan where they sell premade angel food cakes.  All turned out well and the crisis was averted!!!  The meal turned out great, the Grade 8's did an excellent job serving and cleaning up.  Emry stayed for the dance and had an okay time.  She was asked to dance by her best friend Cale and her cousin Gilbert!!  She felt a little left out when all the kids were taking pictures and she wasn't included.  She is just so shy I think that makes her easily forgotten!  Or she's too nice and offers to take the picture instead of being in it!  But she did have fun for the most part, it's hard being a teenage girl and she's doing pretty amazing if you ask me!!

Jared was able to fix one of the other quads we have laying around the farm!!  So the kids took them out for a spin to see how well he had fixed it!!  They had a blast, and I found this gem of a picture on my phone!!  Such sweet boys and even sweeter when they get along!!