Great Day With Grandpa

Last Monday my dad came and spent the day with our boys while Jared and I both worked!! My dad took them to the city to go swimming and to a movie and finally finishing at McDonald's for supper!! 

Before they left my dad told the boys to go brush their teeth! Without missing a beat Calum says, "we only brush our teeth at bedtime!" Grandpa tells him that while he's here they brush their teeth before they go out too!!  They go into the bathroom and dad notices that there are only two brushes and they are both the same! He asks Calum which is which, Calum told him it doesn't matter! Wondering why there are only two toothbrushes dad asked where Emry's is, Calum answers rather disappointed that she hides it because she doesn't like them using her tooth brush!!! Dad had to laugh at this, it was like Calum couldn't believe that she wouldn't want them to use her toothbrush!!  And just to clarify Calum does brush his teeth more than just at bedtime!!!

At the swimming pool the boys loved the ball!! Calum would swing out and almost immediately let go! Armin would get on the ball, dad would give it a push and out Armin would go and then back he would come!! He didn't want to let go!! 

I'm glad they had such a good time!! I sure appreciate all our family does to help us out! It takes a lot of stress off our minds knowing our kids are being well taken care of while we are working!

32

Last Friday I turned 32!  I think I am a little naive...when I think of myself I really don't see an over weight 32 year old, I see a vibrant fit 22 year old!  I'm not sure if this is good or bad!  Anyway, I was able to spend my birthday at home with three of my favourite little people!  We made cookies and watched Toy Story!  Saturday evening Jared and I went out for supper with Buck and Arren and had ice cream from The Marble Slab!  Soooooo yummy!  In keeping with tradition I want to list 32 of my favourite things!

1. The Gospel.  I am so happy I made the decision to be baptized into such a wonderful religion.  I have witnessed many blessings in my life because of my faith!

2. Jared!  He truly is a wonderful man, so caring and compassionate.  He is very supportive of my many crazy ideas and helps bring me back to earth when my ideas really truly will not work!

3. Our three crazy kids!  I love each one of them more than words can express.  They each have a unique personality and I am so thankful I have the opportunity to be their mom!

4. My home.  It truly is a beautiful home, I love the fact that Jared built it and together we have made it a house full of lots of love and laughter!

5. Books!  I LOVE to read!

6. Chocolate!  Milk chocolate...I am addicted to Bubbly Mint Cadbury Bars, I don't understand why they only come in a family size chocolate bar, I can't stop eating it once I start!!

7. Sweaters!  The only good thing about this unbelievably long snowy winter is the fact that I have been able to wear sweaters everyday!

8. The mountains!  I love being able to see them off in the distance, snow covered and majestic!

9. The flat prairies!  I love looking out any one of our windows and being able to see for miles on end.

10.  Durum Wheat!  I think this is my absolute favourite grain crop!  I love the brown hues on the bearded wheat.  I love it when the wind is gently blowing through the crop making it look like waves in the water.

11. My family...my mom, my dad and my sister!  I am so thankful for them in my life, for all they have taught me and continue to teach me.  I am thankful for their love and support and for words of advice in time of need.

12. My extended family!!!  I am so thankful for the Puzey family and for the way they have accepted me with open arms of love.  They are always there when I am in need, showing support and encouragement.  I am so thankful to have married a man from such a kind, loving, caring and compassionate family!

13. Broccoli!  I am not supposed to eat too much of it because it has so much potassium, which can thin out my blood too much!  But I really do love it...it is so yummy!

14. Walking.  I don't do it nearly enough, but I really do enjoy going outside for a walk.

15. Making cards!

16. My Church calling!  I love teaching the Youth, or actually learning from the youth while I try and teach them!  Their testimonies are so strong which gives me hope for the challenges that will most definitely come.

17. Cupcakes.  I really enjoy making new cupcakes.  I haven't made one yet that I don't like!

18. Baking in general!  I love trying new recipes!  I find it absolutely fascinating to mix flavours and seeing the way things come together from a liquid type form into something so moist and fluffy!

19. Cats.  I have liked them better outside in more recent years but I love the way they like to curl up on my lap and purr.  The sound of their purring is so soothing!

20. Dogs!!  I love how loyal dogs are. I feel safe having Gibson keeping watch outside.  When he barks it lets me know that either a strange car has come in the yard or there is a coyote out in the field.  I like how strangers are leery of him even though he really is harmless!  He has a very intimidating bark!

21. Bread!  I hope I never have gluten intolerances because I don't think I could give up bread!

22. Lego!  I love how the kids LOVE to play with it and will play for hours using their imaginations building things for all their mini figures!

23. Trees.  Though we don't have a lot where we live I love how every single tree is different, how they can be planted right beside each other but they grow in such different ways.

24. Autumn.  I love the colours of fall.  How the leaves change colours at different times and create a menagerie of tones and textures!

25. Cookies!  Any cookie really!  I love baking cookies and eating cookies.  My family calls me The Cookie Monster!  They can be homemade or store bought, it really doesn't matter!

26. The idea of gardening!!  I want to love gardening, I love having fresh vegetables but I don't like weeding it and thinning out the rows.

27. Decorating our house to suit the season or holiday!

28. Movies!  There really isn't a movie I haven't liked.  I always seem to find something I like about it.

29.  Cuddling on the couch with Jared.  Though he describes it more as leaning against him!  I love that time in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed when we can just sit together and watch t.v.!!

30. Music!  I particularly love the Disney music from the most recent movies, but I really love all types of music (except rap!!).  I love playing it loud while cleaning the house.  I love how all our kids sing along and dance.

31. Visiting Teaching!  I am not always very diligent about getting it done but I love going and I also love having Visiting Teachers come see me!  I love the common bond we share in the gospel, raising our families and generally trying to do our best!

32. This list!!!  More than anything I am thankful I was actually able to finish it!

I have so much to be grateful for, I really have a very rich and abundant life one I will never take for granted!  I look forward to this year and all it has to offer!

Not Nearly As Dramatic Today!!

Yesterday was a pretty pitsy day for me!!! And I can't really say it got a whole lot better!  I told Jared that morning before he left for work that the house would be sparkling clean when he gets home!! I think he was truly disappointed that it wasn't any different than when he left!!! Though he did comment on how tidy our kitchen cupboards were!!! Instead of focussing on laundry and bathrooms I reorganized my kitchen!!! 

While I was making supper Jared was laying on the couch with his ankle propped up since it still isn't feeling any better since he rolled it a couple of weeks ago! While he was laying down the kids decided it would be great fun to throw all the diapers I had just picked up and put back in the basket at their dad!! Jared however did not think this was funny which just made them do it more (gee, I wonder who they get that from!!!) I also did not think it was funny but I was totally staying out if it for fear I would snap!  So to say the least, yesterday was just a down right dumpy day :(

This morning I woke up with a little better outlook!!! I managed to get Emry showered, Calum dressed, lunches made, smoothies for breakfast and Calum on the bus without any hesitation!!! Then I unloaded the dishwasher and cut up fruit and put together smoothie packs for the freezer to make mornings easier!!! Then Armin and I had a shower and got ready to go to Vulcan!! I was asked to come into work for a few hours while the other tech had training!! Armin went to daycare!! 

So far it has been much better than yesterday, and I can only see it getting better!! Well, we shall see....Jared is meeting with a doctor this afternoon about his ankle, they only called two weeks later to say they want him to come in as soon as he is available....I'm really hoping it isn't broken because he's been walking on it and could have done more damage.  I guess on the plus side he will know for sure what the prognosis is!!!!

Motivation Depletion

I'm really struggling with working away from home, well at least I'm struggling with the long days at work! I find our house gets totally out of control over the two days I work and then on my day off I want to just cuddle with my boys while they watch a show and when they get up to play I stay on the couch and catch up on my shows or Pinterest!!! I do eventually get the house in order but I wouldn't say its CLEAN! I have a mountain of clean laundry in the laundry room that needs to be folded and put away! With the beautiful weather I should have more motivation, but then I look outside at the mud so I pull the blinds back down and pretend I didn't see! I want to get the outside of our house done this spring but I was informed that it probably won't happen this spring because Jared has to seed more grass and barley and oats for the cows. The cows are also a huge motivation depleter for me. I love having cows, I love it when they calve, I love working with them in every way, but I HATE it when Jared comes home from work in the evening he has another full time job. I hate how they cost us money that we could be using to finish our house or going on trips with our kids. I am also not motivated to exercise...well that's not totally true...when I am laying in bed I try to picture what the next day will bring and I always see myself getting up early exercising, making a nice breakfast for my family, showering and either going to work or cleaning our house!! But the alarm rings at 6 and I hit the off button and then rush to get ready when I finally do wake up more than an hour later :( it always looks so much easier to do in my head! Eating is another motivation depleter for me, all I want is junk and I never feel full or even satisfied with what I do eat. Gee, I feel so...blah. 

A Month of Love

This has been a very busy month so far for us!  Calum's Kindergarten class had their annual Sweetheart Supper at the beginning of February so there was a lot of planning and preparation for that.  I am the President of the Kindergarten Board so I assigned myself the dessert for the supper!  I had a great idea so I logged onto Pinterest to see if my idea was possible in a very easy way!  I wanted to do a cookie bar!  I found so many neat Valentine's cookie recipes and I already had lots of big glass jars to display them in!  I found some neat pintables and cute ways to decorate the jars so I was set!  Though I did have to actually start making all the cookies!  I made lots of different kinds, and Myrna helped me out by making two as well!  I made a Snickerdoodle, and turned it into a Snickerdoodle surprise by adding a chocolate caramel Hershey's kiss in the middle.  Rolo Toffee Chocolate Chip, Chewy Red Velvet Hearts, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Monster Cookies with Red and Pink Smarties and white chocolate chips, and Chocolate Dipped Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies.  Myrna made her famous Oatmeal Coconut Cookies and Coconut Macaroons!  I was sure with the amount of cookies made there would definitely be leftovers!  There were three cookies left at the end of the evening!!!  I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures of the actual cookie bar, but it did turn out super cute!  I wrapped each jar with burlap ribbon and printed out a cute label with the name of the cookie on it and attached it to the jar too.  I also printed out letters that looked like they were written on a chalkboard to say Cookie Bar and hung each letter on twine with mini clothes pins.  I had conversation hearts printed off too and pictures that had a heart and a cookie on it.  I also had little wax paper baggies on the table for guests to put their cookies in, and mini tongs to use to pick their cookie out of the jar!  I was pleased with it, and obviously so was everyone that attended the Sweetheart Supper because most people were filing their bags with five or more cookies at a time!!

The stars of the supper were the five Kindergarten kids who sang their little hearts out!  Mrs. Kaiser had each of the children introduce themselves and say what they want to be when they grow up.  When the mic got to Calum I was sure he wouldn't say anything or do his usual and cover his eyes and mouth!  But to my surprise he said, "My name is Calum and when I grow up I want to be a policeman and a........dad!"  Well, the audience just about died with how cute that was, we got it on video and after he said it you could hear the crowd in unison say, "Awwwwwwwwwwwww!"  When it came time for them to sing their song they did such a great job and I could even hear Calum!  He is so taken with his teacher that I know he wanted to please her in every way!  He asked her last week if she could go to Grade One with him!  The evening was a huge success, and it couldn't have gone as well as it did without the help from everyone on the board!!  The meal was delicious, thanks to Sean for cooking the amazing Prime Rib and Jen and Deena for buying and orangizing the potatoes, vegetables and buns!  And to them also for all the beautiful Valentine's decorations!  The center peices for the tables were made by the Kindergarten kids and turned out so cute!  We also had a live and silent auction which faired well, with a huge thanks to Delilah and Melissa and their group for getting all the donations!  I made a Blackforest Cheesecake Cake for the silent auction!  A new recipe but so fun to make!  In between the chocolate cake layers was a layer of baked cheesecake swirled with cherry pie filling.  And then the entire cake was iced with a cream cheese frosting.  With the remaining cherry pie filling spread on top.  It was bought for $75!!  Jared said that he hoped it was good for that kind of money!  I decided to make a miniature version for our anniversay this past weekend and we decided that it was in fact very good!  Myrna also donated her super yummy buns and cinnamon buns which went for over $20 each!  It was a great night, lots of fun and a great success!


Tuesday night Jared and I took our open heifers down to Lethbridge for the auction the next day! We had those heifers so packed in the trailer Jared was a little worried about the gate popping open while we were driving, we really didn't want to make two trips if we didn't have to!   So Wednesday the boys and I headed to the big city to watch our heifers sell!  They did very well, and even with the little runt in there we averaged just over $1000 an animal!  Next week we will be taking our steers to the auction and since I don't work on Wednesday, the boys and I will have to go again!  I really love going to the auction and seeing the different ways people bid!  Some will raise their hand, though not many, others nod, I even saw one man wink!  Quite unique!!

The next big project was getting ready for the kids classroom Valentine's Parties!  We found a cute printable Valentine card on Pinterest and so we printed it out!  It was a picture of Master Yoda from Star Wars and on it said, "Yoda Best Valentine"  so we attached a glow stick to it for Yoda's light saber!  The kids had fun giving them out!  I was also asked to send some kind of treat for their parties so I decided to make more sugar cookies and dip half of them in chocolate!  I used red chocolate wafers for the Sweetheart Supper cookies so I just did that again but this time drizzled milk chocolate on the undipped half of the cookie!  Thank goodness I sent a ton of them to the school because I could not stay out of them! 

On the actual Valentine's Day was the Champion School Ski Trip!  Since Jared just started his new job he couldn't go with Emry so I went!  Though I sat in the lodge she was still happy I was there with her.  There happened to be a young couple there with their 14 month old daughter!  They would take turns doing a run and after watching them do this a couple of times I offered to watch their little girl while they did a couple of runs TOGETHER!  I assured them I wasn't a creep, which my sister said was not convincing!!  But alas they decided they could trust me.  She had the cutest name, Solstice because she was due on the winter solstice!  She was so pleasant and we had fun together!  It turned out to be a great day all around!  Emry had a blast skiing with her best friend, though they didn't leave the green chair (big bunny hill) they had fun!  We stopped at Boston Pizza in Pincher Creek on our way home and I ordered two heart shaped pizzas to take home to my boys!  I was presently surprised to see a little note from Jared on my dresser with an array of chocolate!  Including a 1 pound chocolate bar!  The little note said Happy Valentine's Day Ammu (you can't eat flowers!!)  A truly nice day!!

Saturday I was scheduled to work so I went into Vulcan to open the Pharmacy and put together the dossettes that needed to be done and then I went home to help Jared separate the steers and heifers!  I also had some time to make my mini blackforest cheesecake cake before heading back into work to close the pharmacy!  Sunday was our 12th Anniversary so I made our favourite Chicken Cordon Blue, soooo yummy!  We invited Myrna over for dinner and had a nice time visiting with her!

The one I took to the Kindergarten Sweetheart Supper looked MUCH better!!!  But despite the sloppiness, it was delicious!!

Monday Emry had her 4H belated Christmas Party!  It was for families and held at the Carmangay Curling Rink!  We took Lily and Gilbert with us too since Buck and Arren were busy seperating their steers and heifers!  After it was over Jared and I took our kiddos and Gil and Lily to Lethbridge to see The Lego Movie!  It was really good!  Calum laughed quite a bit throughout and it kept Armin's interest the entire time!  Calum sat next to Myrna and she seemed to get quite a kick out of him laughing at the movie!  I really enjoyed the show, it had such a neat twist to it!  Jared and I got quite a kick out of the ending...too true to home!!!  It was a fun family day!

Since the kids were off school that week my sister and I took the kids to Calgary to the Lego Store!  My kids have been asking to go quite regularly since we went last year!  Since Gil and Lily haven't been we decided to all go!  We had to make a quick stop in Okotoks to pick up a fancy dancy bander for our steers!  Only it took us quite awhile to find the place!  I was on the phone with the lady and we got cut off midway through her telling me the directions.  I figured I knew where the building was so I didn't bother to call back.  Once I realized I didn't know I put the address into Google Maps though for some reason it only picked up Okotoks, Alberta.  I didn't actual realize this until we were right in the middle of Okotoks!  Oops!  So we headed back the way we came and still couldn't find it so I called!!  When I didn't hear after we got cut off the first time we talked were actually the most important part of the directions!  With the right directions we found the place lickety split, though it cost us about an hour!

Once we got to Chinook Centre we met up with my dad and had a quick lunch in the food court!  Then to the Lego Store, the kids had so much fun looking at all the sets and building three of their very own mini figures!  Armin made at least nine guys, he had so much fun picking out different things and putting them together!  We stayed for quite a while and then each of the kids got to pick out their very own set thanks to Grandpa Glen!  Calum and Armin both picked a small set from The Lego Movie, Gil got a slightly larger set from the same movie, Lily picked out Lego Friends Brave set and Emry picked a Lego Friends tractor set!  They had even more fun putting them together when we got home and played all day the net day with their new lego!

The Monday after the week off the High School boys and girls had their last home basketball game of the season! So we took the kids!  It was a great game for the boys, quite close the entire game so very exciting!  The boys ended up winning, making it even better!

Tuesday we took our steers to Lethbridge for the auction on Wednesday.  I left work early so I could help Dave load the first load of steers.  Everything started out super smooth but turned ugly quite quickly!!  The steers did not want to get on the trailer.  After they got by us the first time we noticed that the trailer windows were closed so we opened them so the steers would think going into the trailer was actually a way out!!  Getting them to the trailer with the windows opened worked better as we were able to get six on and get the door closed as the remaining four turned again on us and ran back.  We remembered that the trailer had a divider and got it closed on the six steers already in the trailer so we would be able to put the four that got away back on!  We decided it would be better to not try those four again and put them back in with the rest of the steers and took out four new steers!  Third time is most definitely a charm!  Dave and I got the remaining four on and off he went to drop them off at Balog's!  Dave got back to the farm at 6 and had to leave so he would make it home in time for Blake's Cub Activity...making their Kub Kar's!!  So Jared and I loaded up the remaining 10 steers so he could take them to Balog's!  This bunch had the four naughty steers Dave and I put back!  It was getting pretty dark so they were much more skittish than earlier!  They turned on us once and weren't going to stop, Jared was able to pull himself on the nearest gate though he slipped and rolled his ankle.  I could tell he was badly hurt but before I could even ask how bad it was he was limping past the steers to try again!  We were a little more forceful with them and were able to get them through the barn and past the maternity gate so we could close it on them!  They were now stuck in a much smaller area just before the trailer.  It took lots of jumping up and down, waving our arms and saying "Come on, let's go, get up there..." rather loudly!!  Finally they all got on the trailer and Jared got the door closed!  It's usually a little sad for me to see them go, but I was more than happy this time....these steers have been a huge headache!!!

The boys and I went to the auction the next afternoon to see them sell.  They were definitely some of the best looking animals there that day!  Big and fury with clean looking fur!  Others looked rather ratty!  Some had large clumps of matted mud and poop in their fur, others had bald spots from lice and some just looked rough!  Our steers did very well, averaging $1.91/pound!  With them gone Jared hasn't had to haul water to them which is a huge blessing especially since he hurt his ankle!

Yesterday Emry had her first ever 4 H speeches!  She wrote her own speech about feeding cows with her dad!  It was really good and she did a great job, though she was nervous she stood up there and delivered her speech loudly and clearly!  Her impromptu speech was very short and didn't meet the 1 minute requirement but she did really well!  I was proud of her!  Now that she knows what it is all about next year will be even better!

With today being the last day of February I did something super dumb!  Emry was invited to go to her friends house who just lives down the road.  On our way to his house we went to break the ice on the bulls water.  I thought it would save tons of time if we just drove down the trail that connects Fireguard Road to the road where the bulls are!  I honestly think I turned off the common sense part of my brain!  We made it half way when all of a sudden the van got stuck...really stuck.  It didn't save time at all!  Jared happened to text me then and asked what I was up to today.  I don't think he expected my response to be "Well, we are actually stuck in a snow drift on the trail by Burt's house on our way to Cale's."  His answer was "Seriously?"  Then my phone rang.  It was Jared and he said I was really lucky that he was on his way to Twin Valley to do his end of week check.  He came to rescue us only to get his vehicle stuck too.  He made the 2 1/2 mile walk back to our house to get the tractor so he could get his truck out.  It was a success and an hour and a half later Emry was on her way to her friends house.  Jared took her in his truck while the boys and I took the tractor home.  We will go and get the van tonight when Jared gets home.  He will have to go down the trail from the end we drove the van down or else he will end up getting the tractor stuck too.  Sometimes I wonder where my mind is, I never drive down that trail and I don't know why it really even occurred to me this time especially with all the snow and wind we have had this winter.

This has been an exciting month full of lots of adventure.  I look forward to what March will bring, I hope it is a little less exciting than February has been!

Anniversary Weekend

Jared and I celebrated our 12th Anniversary on February 16th!  Since our actual day fell on a long weekend and it was nearly impossible to get a hotel room anywhere so we decided to take a long over do getaway the weekend after!  At first I thought about going to Great Falls, but with the dollar so low my mom suggested we look in Banff or even Canmore!  So I got online and found a quaint little chalet near Canmore for well under $100 a night!  Looking closer at this particular place I noticed that some of the chalets were equipped with a fireplace!  I thought this would be nice and cozy!  So I booked it! 

We left after Jared was finished work Friday evening and drove up to Calgary where we stopped for supper!  We then continued on, since we weren't totally excited about driving through the entire city to continue west on the Trans Canada Highway we decided to try the new ring road!  It was unbelievable how fast we got to the exact opposite end of Calgary by merely going all the way around it!  By the time we got to the edge of the mountains the snow started to fall!  Big, fluffy snowflakes!  We found our chalet with no problems and quickly unloaded our car!  As soon as we unlocked the door and stepped inside we could smell remnants of a fire from the fire place and feel the warmth and coziness of the little building! 

Standing in the doorway we could see all the amenities our "Swiss Chalet" had to offer!  A cozy double bed, a child sized couch, a table with two chairs, a combination sink, stove, oven and mini fridge all encased in a stainless steel unit!  The bathroom was barely big enough to fit one person, a tiny toilet, and 2 foot squared metal shower and a mini sink attached to the wall!  But despite the tininess, it was cozy and cute!  We had an amazing time!  We relaxed by the fire, read, watched some of the Olympics...we drove the few minutes into Canmore to eat and look around at all the little shops!  We ate at two really yummy places...One was Rocky Mountain Flatbread and Co. (thanks for the suggestion Mom!!)  We each had the soup and more special which included a bowl of soup and an 8" pizza!  I chose the chicken noodle soup and the Apple Chicken Pizza, it had lemon marinated chicken, mozzarella cheese, red onions, cherry tomatoes and slices of granny smith apples!  It was yummy, the crust was unbelievable!  Jared had the chef's special soup, a potato chowder with mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes!  His pizza was a BBQ chicken!  Also super yummy!  It was a neat little restaurant, all the pizzas were baked in a kiln, I was able to watch each pizza be put in and taken out from where I sat!  It was so neat!!!  We also found a neat burger joint which reminded us of Fudruckers!  It too was really yummy!

It was lots of fun being alone and reminiscing about our wedding day 12 years earlier!  We have come a long way in 12 years and I can honestly say that I love him more with each passing year.  He truly is my best friend and I couldn't imagine my life without him! 

This weekend totally wouldn't have been possible without Myrna for watching our kids!! And if my sister and brother in law hadn't taken some initiative and watered our steers and broke the ice on the bulls water while we were gone, our cows would have been mighty thirsty!  Jared has been busy with cows every Saturday and most Sundays for so long we can't even remember a weekend without having to do something with the cows!  When my sister came out to the farm Saturday to pick our kids up from Myrna's to take them to my Mom's for a family gathering, she could hear the steers mooing quite a bit and when she checked on them she noticed they had no water.  Dave wasn't going to be out until after he went skiing, so she texted me and asked what to do.  I told her how Jared gives them water and thanked her profusely for taking care of our animals for us, especially since we hadn't asked her to!  I had watered them before I left but obviously they were used to Jared giving them water every morning before he would leave for work!  I think they might be a little spoiled!!  Thankfully we are selling the steers on Wednesday so Jared won't have to haul water twice a day anymore!  Thanks to my little sister Jared didn't stress TOO much!!!!

We would really like to take our kids to the Rundle Ridge Chalet's sometime!  They have bigger chalets that would fit our family.  When the boys get older we would like to take them there and do the Dog Sled Tour!  It was a great getaway, a little short, but much needed!!!

Government Employee

Jared recently started a new job!! He is now working for Alberta Environment.  He is the Operations & Maintenance Technologist!!  He inspects and maintains all the damns south of the Bow River and north of the Old Man River!  When he applied for the job he had high hopes that living in this area would be a benefit to him and then he found out that 42 other people had also applied for the job!  His confidence plummeted :( When he got the call for an interview he was pleasantly surprised, and when he found out it was between 7 of the 42 that applied his confidence slowly started to rise! 

Just a few days before Christmas he, in a round about way, found out he was chosen for the job!  Though he still didn't want to tell anyone because it wasn't official!  He hadn't heard from Human Resources yet with the offer.  The day before New Year's Eve he got the call from Human Resources and was presented with the offer!  She told him to think about it and give her a call in the New Year with his answer and a contract would then be made up! 

He officially started on January 27th!  He hasn't had formal training for this particular job but his knowledge with mechanics, and electrical as well as his familiarity with the area were a huge asset.  He is also self motivated and determined to find the best, most efficient way to solve any problem! He will miss mechanics, well...maybe not really!!  He has a lot of vehicles in need of some tender loving care and now he may actually have the drive to want to work on his own things!!  He loves learning new things and is excited to increase his knowledge in another area! 

The office building is stationed in Vulcan so we are still able to car pool the days I work too.  He has his own office, something he was totally not used to!  The boys and I went to see him one day and he gave us a tour!  They were totally impressed!  Armin saw the company truck he will use to do his checks and he said, "Awesome truck daddy, I like your tires!!!"  The building is shared with Alberta Parks, Fish and Wildlife and Palliser!  There are a lot of stuffed critters around the office, Calum thought it was cool!

I am proud of Jared, he has worked hard and it has finally paid off!  This job will be a perfect job to retire with one day.  He was worrying about what the future would hold for him, he really couldn't see himself "pulling" wrenches when he was 50.  We are indeed grateful for this wonderful opportunity!!  Good things really do come to those who wait!