Our Cat

I was going through the pictures on my phone and have come to the realization that we have a very spoiled cat!!

All the kids love him to pieces and Jared too!! If you ever want to hear Jared talk cutesy to something listen to him talk to our cat!!  Usually Marshmallow curls up with Jared on what we've dubbed their favourite chair. But the positions he can put himself in are very mind boggling! There is also a fight most nights on who gets to sleep with Marsh.  Funny enough he usually ends up sleeping with Jared and I, curled up between my legs, making it very uncomfortable to sleep!

But without this cat in our lives our home would not be the same!!  I feel it gives our kids a sense of responsibility when it comes to caring for Marshmallow.  Now that is getting nicer outside we find our kitty is out exploring more and playing like he really is a cat!!  None of this sleeping all day and all night anymore.  We sure love our cat and couldn't imagine life without him!

35 Years Old

How in the world am I 35?  It feels like I just graduated high school!!  I have so much to be thankful for this year, it truly has been a good year!  Every year I like to reflect on the blessings I have been given and the things I love and this year is no different!!

1. Jared, he truly is my best friend and I couldn't imagine life without all his crazy antics and insistent teasing!!!
2. Our three beautiful children!! Yes, they run me ragged but I love them so much!!
(Emry for her maturity and her never ending help.
Calum for his thoughtfulness-at the Kindergarten Supper Jared bought tickets for the bucket draws and gave 2 tickets to each kid.  There were lots of great things for kids to win-Lego, toys, stuffies-but Calum chose to put his two tickets in the bag to win a ring for me!!! He is so tender hearted, thinking of this still brings tears to my eyes!
Armin for his spunk, he is quite the comedian and I love how he can always make me laugh!!!)
3. My membership in a wonderful Church.  I honestly couldn't imagine where I'd be without such a wonderful purpose in my life!
4. My Savior, knowing that there is a plan for me and I'm not just here by chance really puts everything into perspective.  It is wonderful knowing there is more to this life than just existing and it is because of our Savior and His Atonement.
5. My mom and dad! They have given me so much and I know they are always there for me and they are wonderful friends and examples to me!
6. Myrna!! She is such a wonderful Mother in law and a great friend! I also admire her faith in the gospel and I hope one day to be as strong as she is!!
7. My sister!!  She is such a great example of hard work to me, and is a great friend, she's always there when I need a shoulder to cry on and I love her for it!!
8. My extended family!  I am thankful for the examples of each of them!  I have some pretty awesome nieces and nephews and great sister and brother in laws! They truly are my friends and I consider each one very special!
9. Our home!  Even though it is usually a disaster, I love making memories there with our kids.
10. My job at Rainbow Literacy.  I love the ladies I work with and the job has really made me stretch.  I am thankful I have had the opportunity to learn and grow!
11. The land we live in, I enjoy so many freedoms here in Alberta!  I love looking out my window and seeing nothing but fields and blue skies!
12. Spring!!! I love this time of year when new life takes place!!! We will be having calves soon and I love witnessing their birth!
13. Our community! I am thankful to be apart of wonderful people who are always looking out for each other!
14. Massages!
15. New clothes!
16. Technology! I love having access to what others are up to right at my finger tips!
17. Camping!  I look forward to camping with our kiddos again this summer!  We always have such a great time exploring new places!
18. Trek! I am super excited to be apart of Trek this summer with our Stake.  I am nervous about being a Ma to some of the youth but I am grateful I get to do it along side Jared!  The youth of our Church are so strong, I just hope I can be an example to them!
19. Chocolate Milk or anything chocolate in general!!! It always makes me feel better!!!
20. Reading! I love to read any type of book!
21. Writing! I love to write, I guess that's why I do my blog!!
22. My favorite season is Autumn, I love how the colors change from green to yellow and orange and brown!  I love the long Indian Summers we often get throughout the Fall!
23. Music! Jared has gotten me liking some pretty funky bands that I never would have discovered without him!
24. Movies!  I love our Sunday ritual of watching movies as a family.
25. SLEEP!! I love sleep, especially in my super comfy bed!
26. Weekend getaways!  I'm thankful Jared knows that sometimes I just need a break away from everything except him!  Even if its only for one night!!
27. A clean house.  It really brightens my mood and everything seems to run much more smoothly when our house is clean!
28. Walking!  I hate to run but I really enjoy going for walks!
29. The smell of cinnamon!  I could smell it all day and never get tired of it!
30. Trying new recipes.
31. Our little School!  I love the small classes the kids are in and the new opportunities they have each day to learn and grow!
32. Christmas! I love the sights, the sounds and the smells of Christmas.  I love spending time at home with my family!
33. Warm sweaters and cozy slippers!
34. Our pets!  I love that our dogs guard the farm and bark whenever someone strange comes into the yard.  And our cat, Marshmallow!!! I love how he curls up between my legs at bedtime!
35. Another year to celebrate who I am!

That shouldn't have been as hard as it was!  But I am grateful for it all!  I am grateful to be me and for the opportunity I have to learn and grow in different ways each year!

Kub Kar Building

This year Calum is old enough to participate in the annual Kub Kur Rally for Cubs!!  He is so excited!  He and Jared got to work looking for ideas on what shape to cut into their block of wood. Calum had grand ideas of objects from the Legend of Zelda game that Jared had to gently talk him out of saying it would be impossible to cut those from the block of wood they had!!!  Jared suggested the shape of the electric guitar he got for Christmas and Calum readily agreed!!  Jared drew the design on the block of wood and together they went out to the shop to cut and sand it!

After the sanding came the painting, Calum chose to paint the body of the guitar orange and the neck brown!  Calum was very meticulous with his painting and did a great job!

Finally the trial race at the Church came and Calum had fun racing against his friends!  His car wasn't the fastest but he was loving every minute of it!  After the races were all done, a friend suggested Calum turn his car around and race it backwards, keeping all the weight in the back.  So he tried it and it turned out to be much faster, neck and neck with Blake's car whose was the fastest!!  Too bad we didn't think of that for the actual races!  Oh well, the Stake Kub Kar Rally is still to come and he will race it the fast way that day! 

He had so much fun with his Dad building this car!  Armin was quite put out that he didn't get to build one but his time will come and for now I'm glad Calum had this time with his dad!

Kindergarten Sweetheart Supper

Saturday was Armin's Kindergarten Supper, a fundraiser held each year to raise money to keep our private kindergarten private!  We need funds to pay our teacher and classroom assistant, and to buy supplies for the kids.  Not a lot of expenses but enough that we still need to fundraise.

The theme for the evening is usually a Sweetheart theme because it is held near Valentine's Day.  All the parents help in some capacity, decorating, food prep, buying items for the auction and going to local businesses to get donations for the night!  We were supported really well by our community and had lots of items for the auction and the bucket draws.  We even had lots of items for door prizes as well.  I was able to go and get items for the auction with cash donations we were given and I had lots of fun doing that!

Armin was beyond excited for this night, he got all dressed up in a shirt and tie and looked so handsome! His class is quite small this year, only 5 little kids and one of those 5 is away in Mexico for the winter, so 4 of them performed at the fundraiser and did an awesome job!  They have been learning a lot about polar bears these past few months so they chanted a poem about polar bears.  Each kid had a part to say on their own.  They also did a song that is quite popular:

"Hey Armin?"
"Hey What?"
"Are you ready?"
"For what?"
"To Pop!"
"Pop what?"
"Pop c co!"
"My hands are high, my feet are low and this is how I pop c co!"

And then they do some action, Armin chose to snap his fingers while jumping up and down!  The talent that kid has!  And for the four of them they were so loud, they didn't even need to use a mic!

We were able to raise a good chunk of money despite the low numbers we had out to the dinner.  It was a great night, with fun had by everyone there!

Family Week Ski Trip

For the family week, Jared took the week off too and we decided to take the kids skiing.  We headed out early Tuesday morning for Castle Mountain. There was thick fog all the way to Pincher Creek, but once we got to the hill the sun was shinning and it was lightly snowing. A beautiful day for skiing.  We got the kids in their rentals and lift tickets bought and away they all went!  I watched them get on the lift then I headed into the lodge to read my book! What I found out later though was Armin was having a tough time and Calum didn't like to turn!  But they came in with smiles on their faces and were having a great time!  The weather was just below zero so nice and warm.  We wrapped up just before 4pm and headed to Fernie for the night!

It was great splitting the trip up like this, it hardly took any time to drive to Fernie and we were there before dark.  We stopped for supper at Boston Pizza then headed to our hotel.  The kids were beyond excited about the hotel, it had a water slide!  Jared and the kids swam until around 9:30pm then we all crashed.  Everyone slept pretty good and we weren't up until 8:00am.  We got ready, had breakfast and went for another swim until it was time to check out.  Then we headed to the ski hill where we did half a day of skiing!  Fernie was much busier than Castle, lots more people!  I can't say I like one more than the other, there are good things about both.  Fernie has nice long, very easy runs that were great for Emry to practice her turns on. But the kids hill at Castle is longer and a little more challenging for Armin and Calum.

Jared decided to get the kids right into it so the 4 of them headed up the deer chair and I headed into the lodge (I like the lodge at Castle better, way less people) I hadn't heard from or seen anyone for quite some time so I finally texted Jared and asked how it was going!  His reply was "It's NOT going good at all!" It took them an hour and a half to get down one run!! I'm thinking it was a little more difficult than he remembered for the boys!  Once they got down Jared left Armin at the little conveyor belt and came into the lodge to get Emry to do a few runs with her.  I took Calum to the conveyor belt too and I stayed out and watched them.  The weather was cool but bearable in my hoodie!  Armin just kept going up the conveyor and then ski down the hill, Calum got a little bored with that so he ventured over to the little t-bar.  I wasn't sure how he would do with that all by himself but I was surprised when I saw him going up with no trouble at all.  Until he reached the top! He fell just after letting go of the tow rope and couldn't get up!  NO ONE helped him, I bet I saw him laying at the top for half an hour!  Finally I texted Jared and told him where Calum was and he and Emry skied over to him and helped him up and sent him on his way down the hill.  He made it half way down and then wiped out pretty good.  Thankfully it was 4:00 and time to return the rentals!  The boys had a blast even if they did stick close to the kid runs.  I had fun watching them and helping where I could! 

On our way home we hit some pretty nasty weather so we took it slow and steady.  Just before Claresholm we came upon a car that had just gone in the ditch.  Jared drove a little further up the road to find an approach then walked back to where they were to see if they were okay.  All was well, and they already had a tow truck lined up to come and pull them out.  We made it to Claresholm and stopped for some supper and a much needed break from the very icy roads!

It was a great two days, the kids had fun skiing and swimming and I had a great time with my family!  At Castle I was able to visit with a good friend, and our neighbor, for the afternoon!  It was great to catch up, its funny we only live a mile apart but we had to be two hours from home to have a nice long visit!!!

And That's a Wrap

Saturday marked the end of a season for basketball for Emry.  The girls played in the League Tournament and although they didn't place they sure had fun.  Emry's confidence and skill level increased so much.  So much in fact, she was taking a shot at the basket when the other team fouled her and she was able to shoot two free throw shots.  She didn't make either one but you could see the excitement in her whole countenance!  I was so proud of her for the effort she put in.  She made some great friends, had amazing coaches and is looking forward to next year!

Monday, the Junior boys and girls played a game of scrimmage to wind up the season.  They mixed the boys with the girls and Emry ended up on the winning team!!! She was beyond excited to win a game!!  She took a couple of shots at the basket, made one and even got fouled!  She made one of her two free throw shots and had the time of her life out there on the floor!!  It was a great experience for her and despite all the extra driving we had to do for it I know it was totally worth every minute!! I loved watching her play!

An Adventure

Sunday it turned really cold here and we woke up to a good 4 inches of snow!!!  Crazy, but it is still winter so we can't really complain!  Saturday we knew a storm was to be rolling in, quite a severe winter storm.  Temperatures would drop and snow would fly!  It wasn't Jared's week with cows so he helped me around the house!  We loaded up all our garbage and the kids and headed to the dump Saturday and then into the church to shovel walks.  Only they had already been done for us!!  There was one little spot not done so the kids grabbed the shovels and got to work!  It maybe took them 5 minutes but they were happy to have helped a little!!

Sunday Jared stayed home from church with Calum, they both were under the weather and needed a little extra rest!  Still wasn't Jared's week with the cows but he would look out the window at them to see what they were up to and noticed they were out of feed.  He put his coveralls on and went for a walk through them to see if they were going to behave!!  The cows were all gathered around the bale yard wanting some food pretty badly, little piggy's they were just fed the day before!!  I think they were hungry because it turned cold and snowed and there was nothing visible for them to graze!!  So, Jared fired up the tractor and fed them, he didn't want to leave it until Monday in case they did break into the bale yard!!  It seems like cows follow their own schedule and not a set one we would like to have for them...don't they know better?!!
Monday Jared took over doing the water for the cull cows.  He got the semi lined up we got from my moms and used that to haul, only it wasn't good on the snow and he got stuck :( So he fired up the tractor again and went to get a bale to put on the back of it for added weight, which worked great!  Only the tractor quit because the shop ran out of fuel to heat it, so it sits in the bale yard until it warms up a bit!  So Jared fired up the old tractor, which runs like a dream, even in cold weather!  He got the water delivered to the cull cows and then wanted to fill the shop's tank with fuel so he could continue to heat the shop.  The only problem now is the fuel tank is on the back of the one ton and the carburetor has been removed because it is shot and the truck doesn't run.  Jared came in and asked if I could help him, did I mention that this all happened at 10pm.  So out I went into the blasted cold and got in the tractor to pull the one ton as close to the fuel tank as possible in order to fill it!  It took us two tries but we got it close enough...I may have cried a little!! It was cold and dark and I always forget how to run the old tractor!! But we make a good team.

Tuesday Jared did the water for the cull cows again, morning and night, and then at 9pm decided the bulls desperately needed their water filled.  It was getting pretty low!!  He didn't know if the bulls could actually reach the bottom of the basket thing with their huge heads!! The only problem was the semi has no working lights!! So I drove the van out ahead of him so he could see the edge of the road good enough to drive! Once in a while I would flash my brake lights so I could see him and I would feel better to know he was right behind me!! Thank goodness the brakes work good in the semi!!  We made it to the bulls and he backed the truck up and started getting everything ready to fill the bulls water!! The only problem now, the bulls were indeed very thirsty and came to investigate what was going on!!  As Jared filled the water tub one bull would just drink and empty the basket so Jared would move the hose and the bull would follow him to the next basket to drink!!  It took forever for the water to fill the tub, and it still isn't enough!!  So I'm sure we will be doing it again later tonight!!  Jared usually takes two loads of water to fill the tub to last a week!!

I know it is a good experience for us to have the cows but I still don't know if it is really worth it!!!  I keep telling Jared we should sell the herd and buy yearlings and just run them on our pasture and sell them in the fall.  No more baling or long cold winters of hauling water!! I would miss the calving but that too can be a pain when both Jared and Dave work during the day.  Oh well, it was an adventure...one not soon to be forgotten!!