CaseyShayne+3

Happy 5th Birthday Jada

2010-11-03T11:15:00.002-05:00

Jada had 2 small parties and one large friends party.

So top collage we have in the top left, Grandpa holding Jada while she is blowing out her candle while Jill watches. Top right, Jada is opening her present from Uncle Brian & Jill. Bottom left is the quad that we bought Jada for her birthday and bottom two left are Jada opening her gift from Grandma & Grandpa Welk.

This collage is full of the fun we had with all the kids from her class. We played a lot of fun games with balloons. Eric was a great help during this time. Thanks Eric. Presents where opened as well in this large circle group.

Then there was cake and singing. This group of kids was amazingly behaved.

Once all the food and fun was done at our house we all headed to the movie theatre to watch Toy Story 3 and they were very well behaved in the theatre.

Happy Birthday to my special 5 year old.

Retro Dance

2010-11-03T11:00:00.002-05:00

My cousin Stephanie was gracious enough to lend me a bunch of dance costumes from when she was young. Can you guess what era she was young in? The kids had so much fun trying all these costumes on!!! Jada loved this blue outfit. She wanted to wear this all day long. She even wanted to wear it for halloween.

Mamma Mia

2010-11-03T10:56:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving Sunday we (Casey, Shayne, Eric, Sara, Jada, Grandma & Grandpa Welk, and Uncle Nathan) all went to see Mamma Mia in Regina. First stop was of course the Mongoli Grill. It is a favorite of ours.

Jada sat beside Grandma (which is of no surprise) and everyone else was down the line. The big kids wouldnt hold still long enough for me to take a picture. Since you arent allowed camera's in there I was trying to be sneaky.

This was the kids' first musical theatre and they all really enjoyed it. I thought it was a great show.

More of Trooper

2010-11-03T10:54:00.002-05:00

Well the little Trooper is growing and exploring so much more. She comes and goes up the stairs and all around the house as she pleases these days. Her and Copper are becoming friends. Copper wants to play with her non-stop and follows her around ALL day long. Trooper is starting to respond back and play. The hisses are getting less and less. Copper is the happiest if she is biting him, whether it is on the face or paws. He just lays right down and holds really still. It is so precious.

Trooper can fall asleep at the drop of a hat too. She is very trusting of everyone and will expose her belly. Yes, in the picture below she is on the table enjoying some cat milk & kitten food. and No I do not let her up there anymore. And then the bottom right picture is Lilly enjoying a belly rub from Jada.

Fall Skate School

2010-11-03T10:50:00.002-05:00

This fall, Sara was involved in Swift Currents Fall Skate School. It is a great time to get your feet "wet" again before the season starts. She has a lot of fun during these times with her friends. She is wearing the ivory shirt in the collage below. I dont know what this jump is called, but she has been working very hard to get it mastered. Still not there yet, but working on it.

Below are some stretching and just hanging out and watching.

Fabulous Fall

2010-10-03T21:27:00.003-05:00

I love the fall! And my kids love the fall. There is so much fun to be had when all the leaves start falling off the trees. And this year, it was one day green leaves, next yellow, and then the next day they where laying on the ground. The kids have always bagged as many leaves as they can and build a fort either in our yard or the yard across the street. This year it is across the street and I think the last time a count of bags was brought in was close to 100. They even go along the streets to collect leaves. Shovels and wagons are used as well. This year, Jada got a power wheels quad for her birthday, so the wagon was tied up to the back, and she was in charge of hauling the loads home.

It's been two years since I have had a nice picture of the kids in the leaves, and this year Eric only let me take one, Sara a couple, but I'm sure that Jada wouldve posed for me all day, but here are a few highlights.

The bags where originally lined up to be football lines, and the kids where tackling them. But it has since been built to a fort. I will have to get a good picture of that and add it on here. I think Copper has just as much fun as the kids do. I would have to say that fall is his favorite time too.

Hancock Hoe Down Part 2

2010-09-26T12:56:00.002-05:00

The oldtimers got up on waterskiies this weekend too. It was amazing to see that they still had what it takes. So first off it is my dad!!!

Then here we have Eric. First time for him getting up. He did awesome for his first run ever. Even though we were concerned with the ancientness (if that is a word) of the skiies. But they both held up really well.

Then we have Eric & Sara kneeboarding as well. First time for both of them and I am so extremely proud of them for trying and doing such a great job.

Hancock Hoe Down Part 1

2010-09-26T12:48:00.002-05:00

August long weekend we had a large gathering of Hancocks come to Lac Pelletier!! It was super fun to visit with cousins that we havent seen for a long time. It was great to see all the kids playing on the dock. Makes me remember the days of when we were all there as youngings.

So these are some randoms of waterfront fun. top left: Jada swimming (this would be her first year of really enjoying lake water that is a bit chilly), top right: Sara, ERic, Tristan, Mikhi, and Tyson, bottom left: Sara jumping in, bottom right: the loaded paddle boat.

top left: Sara jumping off the pontoon boat, top right, blaine jumping in, middle left: (Okay there is just too many people in all the pictures to name them all so if you really want to see a closer version and pick out my 3 kids you'll have to click on the pictures to make them larger) Sorry.

Summer Goalie Camp

2010-09-26T12:42:00.003-05:00

Eric went to his first Goalie Camp this summer. He was at Goaltec in Saskatoon. I didnt actually get any pictures of him on ice, but did get one of him sitting with the other boys (he is in the blue t-shirt and white sunglasss) and then a picture of him receiving his report card. He did very well and had a really great time. We will definetly be going back next year.

Outlook Fun

2010-09-26T12:41:00.002-05:00

When we went to outlook this summer to have Carla Chabot take our family photos we found this tiny piece of beach near out campsite so the kids really enjoyed a small piece of sand. It is very beautiful there. The bridge in the background is a pedestrian walking bridge.

First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-26T12:37:00.002-05:00

WOW! I know these posts are really out of order, but I also know that I really want to put them up so bear with me as I get through all the summery and early fall stuff here.

Jada started Kindergarten this year. SIGHHHHHH. Mamma bear needs a big hug. She goes Tuesday & Thursday full days. She did such an amazing job going to school and is so excited to be with her friends and stuff. Recesses however, are a bit of a challenge for her. She is crying during recesses, because she misses me. Tearing at my heart strings. But she is being a really good girl and pulling through. Sara & her friends are also helping with the transition and playing with her & her friends during recesses. Yeah for big sisters. (Plus, 2 weeks ago she had a dislocated hip for 3 days and that made it even harder to be at school, since I didnt know what was wrong at the time). Pictured below is her outside the school, putting on her shoes at her locker (man those are hard to do when they are new), Daddy helping her pull out her supplies from her backpack, and leaving the classroom for pictures (on the first day, yeah and notice the orange shirt. We are getting retakes. ~ I always let the kids pick what they wear for picture day and they always turn out great, but Jada just got this new orange shirt to try to expand on her colour palette of pink & purple and that is what she chose to wear that day....hense retakes now.

One of Jada's favorite parts of school so far is Mr. Munshaw's music class. She says he is so funny. We are so sad that this is his last year teaching. He will be missed.

Trooper

2010-09-17T18:05:00.003-05:00

So here are a few pictures of Trooper the new kitten, and here is the story about how she came about.....

(TOP: top picture is Trooper sleeping inbetween Lilly's back legs, all the other pictures are of when her eyes where just starting to be opened all the way)

So Lilly (her Mom) went into labour at about 6pm on Saturday night. We locked her up in the bathroom for her to labour and have her kittens. I pretty much stayed in the bathroom with her all evening. Lilly wanted me to rub her belly whenever she would have contractions. I ended up falling asleep on the floor of the bathroom while I waited for a kitten to come. Finally at 1215 I woke up to Lilly's change in cry and saw that she had a kitten half way out - feet first!! So I had to get her to lay down and pop the head out with my finger. (I know it is gross, but what else would I do) The kitten was not breathing, so I did a bit of CPR. Little compressions on its chest and a few breaths in its face and alas we had gasping for breath. (Lilly was eating the placenta and birthing a second kitten and didnt even look at this kitten until I got it to make a squeek). So the first kitten turns out to be our Trooper. The second kitten born at home had a hole in her tummy and her intestines where ballooned outside her belly so I just had to let that baby die. (OH how it broke my heart. And yes, I did have lots of tears) So since Lilly was cleaning her 1st baby and still having contractions I decided to head to bed and felt she would do okay on her own.....

730 I woke up to check on Lilly and she hadnt had anymore kittens, was still having strong contractions, but bleeding bright red.....so I phoned the vet in Maple Creek.

8am, Sara & I were on the road with Lilly & Trooper to Maple Creek for Lilly to have an emergency c-section. So while Lilly was in having surgery, Trooper was tucked inside my sweater, sitting in the truck with the heater on watching the rains come down.

12Noon we find out the other 2 kittens that were still inside Lilly are dead. One had a birth defect and would have died anyway and the other kitten was dead upon finding her. The placenta's had come unattached during the night.

1230 we are heading home with Lilly all dopey in the carrier and Trooper tucked inside Sara's sweater.

When we get home, Lilly is wandering all over the house meowing looking for her kittens. It takes a while to calm her down and let Trooper drink. I think once the drugs started to wear off she really settled in to being a mommy and is doing a great job.

Even Copper and Trooper are getting along well. I will post some pictures of them together once I get them off my camera, so stay tuned for more pictures of the baby. She is 4 weeks old already.

Fun with good friends.

2010-09-17T18:00:00.003-05:00

Jada, Eric & I went into Swift one day to hang out with our good friends, Colleen, William and Elan. It was a nice hot day (how did we luck out with one of these) so we decided to go to the spray park by their house and had a really good time. Thanks Colleen for some refreshing popsicles and a great time. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

(OOOHHHHH side note....Elan is wearing one of Jada's old dresses and her old shoes. How I love to see the clothes being used. Glad Elan can enjoy Jada's hand me downs)

You know you're a red neck when?

2010-09-17T11:01:00.004-05:00

Yup driving in Swift Current, come to a red light and this sheep started moving in the back of this truck. It's head was tiied down so it couldnt get out. Eric & I had a good chuckle over this.

Confined Space Entry

2010-09-17T10:58:00.002-05:00

Casey brought the Confined Space simulater home and the kids all got to climb through it and have some fun. THey all thought it was really cool. Eric & Sara even masked up with oxygen and did the whole thing. So this is just a couple pictures of them playing and having fun. They could've spent all day in there. Jada and Lexi even took pillows in there and had a little "fort".

Day 17 Part 2

2010-08-27T13:10:00.001-05:00

this little rollercoaster is Jada's favorite ride. Her arms go up right away and never come down. She is the third car back.

4. Stopped in Strathmore to eat at Smittys on our way home.

5. Driving back to Gull Lake, all tired, sick or sore.

VACATION IS OVER :(

....but the trip will be on next year again. Maybe see some new things again. Thanks for reading all this.

Day 17 - Fri Aug 20 Part 1

2010-08-26T12:10:00.001-05:00

Okay this post is in two parts as well...

1. Woke Up

2. ORdered breakfast room service. (Ahhhhh HOT SHOWERS. I couldve stayed in there all day)

3. Went to Calaway Park. AWESOME!!

to be continued.....

Day 16 continued.....

2010-08-26T11:47:00.002-05:00

...oh here are all the zoo pictures, I was wondering why there wasnt any more. Enjoy browsing through. Remember if you'd like to see the pictures larger, just click on them)

Day 16 - Thur Aug 19

2010-08-26T11:46:00.001-05:00

1. (Guess what we did) Woke Up

2. Had cereal in the van. (It was really cold this morning and we needed to be up bright and early to go to the sled dog tour)

3. Wen to a sled dog tour. COOL!!!!!!!!! (The huskies pulled us on an ATV and it was amazing to see their excitement to do this, and how smart they are to all the commands. This would be awesome to come back to in the winter....planning on it. Picture starting top left and going clockwise....in the store waiting for our ride, this is a stuffed Husky, getting the team ready to pull us, on the ride, the little babies there, a beautiful girl sitting so nice on top of her house while the rest where barking crazy, then ME petting a WOLF...ahhhhhh he was amazing. We got to walk around and pet all the dogs and even give them treats.)

4. Went back to Wapiti.

5. Girls having shower.

6. Boys are taking down the tent.

7. Ate lunch at McD'S

8. Filled up with gas

9. Went to the info centre to get a map of Calgary Zoo.

10. Said goodby the the mountains and started to drive to Calgary.

11. Found a campsite at West Calgary.

12. Went to Calgary Zoo. COOL!! We saw all different animals. FUN.

(heehee, the reason for Casey's great pose ... the only way we knew what time it was, is to take a picture with the camera and check back on the picture... they fed the vultures while we were there.)

13. Driving to find a place to eat in Calgary.

14. Ate at Denny's (love this place)

15. Stayed at a hotel. (we were so burnt out tired by now, Casey's lungs are infected ~ possible from all the smoke we've been walking through ~ so we broke down for our last night. It was great. We all slept wonderful, but all of us felt too hot)

16. Rented Karate Kid

17. Went to bed.

Day 15 - Wed. Aug 18

2010-08-25T22:50:00.002-05:00

1. Woke Up.

2. Phoned the sled dogs and got us in tomorrow.

3. Ate breakfast at Craig's Family Restaurant.

4. Went to the information center to get Dad a massage. (well the people there didnt give him one, but we used their phonebook and phone to get him booked with one downtown)

5. Went back to the campsite

6. Went to a chocolate shop were there was all this different designs ex. a cowboy hat & boots all made of chocolate, and a bottle leaning on a bears head. and we got three chocolate bars and a bunch of bite size chocolate. (This place was really neat, you could see the guy in the back making the chocolates and stuff. Very yummy.)

7. Went to pick up Dad from his massage.

8. Ate lunch at Subway

9. Went to Quarry Lake and swam. (well Eric and Sara swam. I dont know how they can stand swimming is such cold water. )

10. Went to the park to play for a while. (Jada really needed some park time.)

11. Went to get ice cream

12 . Came back to Wapiti and Jada, ERic and Sara made a HUGE pile of pine needles (They ended up making it look like a grave. )

13. Driving to Oh Canada Eh! Dinner Theatre where we watch people acting out things and they serve us a big supper (5 courses ` cool) AWESOME!!! :) (This was such a hit with all 5 of us. We loved the food. The kids were glued to the entertainment and it was just a hoot of a time. The kids especially liked that they got to yell "eh" whenever our server/actor said it or if we saw him com on stage. We got a picture of the kids with our server. Sara & Eric both got serinaded by the violin player. IT was great. Hard to take pictures in there though.)

14. Came back to Wapiti

15. Went to bed.

Day 14 - Tues. Aug 17

2010-08-25T22:48:00.001-05:00

1. Woke Up

2. Waited for Jada to wake up. (she slept long each day)

3. Ate at Schumachuk but they didnt have any breakfast so we bought cereal boxes & milk.

4. Took down the tent.

5. Drove to a Natural Hot Spring called Lussier River Hot Springs. (everyone thought these were pretty cool. We had seen lots of Hot Springs / Pools so this was neat to see it coming from the rock and how hot it really is. There was no thermometer in the waters, but talking to people we guess that the top pool was 111 degrees f, and got cooler each pool down. Of course the one closest to the river was the cold pool, where Sara spent most of her time. The road up the mountain was pretty narrow in places and had pullouts added so you could pass an oncoming car. It was a wicked drive. Remember you can click on the pictures to see them larger.)

6. Ate lunch at Fire Valley Restaurant.

7. Driving on the road to get to Canmore and we saw mountain goats, just outside Radium.

8. Driving on hte highway and the trees were ina forest fire it looks kind of cool. (those are Sara's words, I thought it was pretty sad. All the damage that it does. The signs where all melted too, it was eerie.)

9. We went to the information centre in Canmore to find a place to stay.

10. Went to Wapiti Campground and set up the tent.

11.Ate supper at Hungry Bear Restaurant.

12. Went to DQ

13. Came back to the campsite.

14. Trying to phone the sled dogs but nobody answered.

15. Found sticks and made them into roasting sticks. (we have metal ones, but it was much funner to use sticks to roast)

16. We cooked marshmellows and Jada learned how to cook a marshmellow. (Sara was a great teacher. They both made some really good marshmellows)

17. Went to bed.

Day 13 - mon aug 16

2010-08-25T22:41:00.003-05:00

1. Woke UP

2. Sara & Mom had a shower

3Eric & Dad had a shower

4. Starting to take down the tent and get stuff out of it, while Jada is still sleeping

5. Jada woke up.

6. Went for breakfast at Creston Country Family Restuarant. (when we were done eating and in the parking lot getting ready to hit the road again, we saw a ton of old fashion cars pulling matching trailers. They were so cool. Here is a pic of one!)

7. Took Down the tent

8. Got our picture took by a pair of dice. (top picture)

9. Drove on the road.
10. Stopped at a goat store were goats go on top of the roof and eat grass. THey also make soap there from goat milk. (the bottom picture above. You can see the grass on the awning.)
11. Went for ice cream in Yahk. (the name of a very small town)
12. Drove to Cranbrook.
13. Went to the information centre and got information on what to do.
14. Drove to 4x4 Adventures
15. Got in GMC Trackers and started to drive up a Mountain. Really bumpy. we were on top of a mountain 7200 feet above sea level. AWESOME!! (the lady who lead the tour also had a 6 year old son who comes along, so Jada had a friend to visit with the whole ride. They both enjoyed each others company.)

Below we have pictures from when we were on top of the mountain. Eric with his nukshuk that he built. It was a beautiful sight. (I think if you click on the pictures you can see them larger!)

Below we have picture of the Trackers. Jada and I rode in the red one with the guide and Casey had Eric & Sara in the black one. At one point the red tracker broke down so we got to stop and have a quick break. The bottom middle picture is of Casey coming down a really steep hill. It doesnt look too bad in the picture, but just so you know, it was freaky steep. We also got to blast though a couple of puddles, but I dont have any good pictures of that. THe whole tour was 4 hours long.

16. Driving to find a Japanese Sushi Place.

17. Found the place called Sakura and the chef made us bul-go-gi special just for us. (It was not on the menu, but we know that is what Jada loves from Miso in Swift, so we asked the owner and he had the chef's make us a dish. It turned out GREAT!! Everything there was bang on good. Reminded us of Miso in Swift. The crunch rolls, bul-go-gi, tempura, teriyaki, and we even tried a new dish which was OK)

18. Went to shoppers drug mart to get medicine because Dad is sick. (Casey got a sinus cold...poor guy)

19. Stopped at husky to get ice.

20. Drove to Wasa Lake to stay the night. (this was an amazing campground. but I dont think I would stay for a long time since there was no showers. but the sites where beautiful)

21. Set up the tent.

22. Had a fire. (The kids finally broke out some glow sticks. and they made our names - and lot of other names too, but here is the pics of ours)

23. WEnt to bed.

Day 12 Sun Aug 15

2010-08-24T16:28:00.006-05:00

1. Woke Up
2. Mom did laundry
3. Dad, Eric, and Sara went to Timmy's and got breakfast for everyone.
4. Talked to the guy who owned the campground and told us stuff that we can do.
5. Drove back to Timmy's to see if they had ginger ale but they didnt.
6. Went to a gas station and got everybody a drink.
7. Went to the glass house. Very cool. (Very interesting. I remember seeing this as a kid, but this time I understood that the glass bottles where old formaldehyde bottles. EWWWW. The guy who built the houses was a mortician, so he used the embalming fluid bottles to build his house. EWWW again. )

(Oh and in the gardens there is a live toad and his name is Trevor. Just a tid-bit for you Colleen)

8. Driving on the road to Creston to go to the Winery but we decided not to. (It was so busy there, and so hot, that we decided not to go)

9. Ate lunch at DQ (and had a mini....oh how I love thee)

10. Went to Creston Wild Life Tour and we saw TURTLES!! (While we were paddling the canoe we saw the turtles. It was so hot this day, we almost died)

Jada was a very good helper with paddling. Though she got tired really fast.

Here are the turtles out for a suntan

11. Went to an actual swimming pool and swam at the Community Rec Centre. (It was their first year open and it was an amazing facility. Their pool rocked.)

12. Went back to the campsite to hang up our swim suits and towels.

13. Ate supper at Creston Country Family Restaurant.

14. Went back to our campsite.

15. Played at the park for a little bit

16. While Dad and Eric chopped firewood

17. Had a fire, a really big fire.

18. Went to bed

Day 11

2010-08-24T15:58:00.004-05:00

1. Woke Up
2. Ate breakfast at Broadway Deli. (They had the most amazing waffles EVER!! With syrup, blueberries, raspberries and whipping cream. Man they were awesome)
3. Driving back to the campsite to shower and take down the tent. (this is how we got the topper closed. Sara had to sit on it. Good team work guys!) 4. Drove to Kaslo and ate a place called tree house. ( On the drive there we went through a small town and this was a resort and small cottages to rent. It was so cute. Someday I'd like to stay here)

5. We went to the SS Moyie Museum where we got to go on the oldest surviving turn wheel boat in canada. (i think. It was a neat museum and very hands on. You got to wander around just hang out in the boat. OH and we saw Eric's Meat Market in the town, so of course got a pic of that.)

6. Sara got a pencil and it is made out of wood off a tree that is what she was using to write with & Jada got a bracelet at the market.

7. Driving to Ainsworth Hot Springs.

8. Swam at Ainsworth Hot Springs. (They had a cool cave area. The water was very hot and you got to go in a big loop of cave. The kids thought it was cool. I didnt make it all the way around. I felt like I couldnt breath in there.)

10. Crossed another ferry called Balfour Ferry. We saw lots of Osprey & nests on the ride over. They are pretty cool! (Here we are getting on the ferry again.)

(Sara and I doing the Titanic scene)

(oh and Jada wanted to do it too)

(and then a pic of the kids. They are getting so big)

11. Went to a campsite but it wasnt a nice campground so we left.

12. Drivng on the road again.

13. Found a campsite called Pair-a-dice and we stayed there.

14. Set up the tent

15. Went to bed.

Day 10 - fri, aug 13

2010-08-24T15:48:00.002-05:00

1. Woke UP
2. Eating breakfast at Middle Earth Cafe
3. Nakusp Hot Springs to look at them. (They sure looked old school. One single pool and older. Moving on)
4. Went to Halcyon Hot Springs. (We stayed all day here. It was by far the most relaxing, best Hot Springs we have ever been to. We stayed pretty much all day. I even needed to get out and have a nap at one point. Wonderful)

5. Ate lunch at the springs. (and then went back in the pools)

6. Got a snack (and then went back in the pools)

7. Driving to Nakusp.

8. Went to the grocery store and bought hot dogs & snacks for supper.

9. Went to the campsite, made a fire and ate supper. (in Nakusp there was a motorcycle rally going on and there was SO MANY small tents and bikes in the campground. I couldnt get a good picture of all of them, but I think the guy said it was over a hundred.

went to bed

Day 9 - Thur.Aug 12

2010-08-24T15:23:00.003-05:00

1. Woke Up
2. Said Goodbye to Jano & Sonia. Left Noah's Ark. (These are the owners of the campground. They are amazing people and they are like family to us now.) This is one of their dogs. Her name is Chinook. On this trip, Jada's 'big puppy' finally got a name too. She is now Chinook as well.

3. Driving to 3 Valley Gap to eat breakfast.

4. Driving on the road. (That is a good thing. I wouldnt have wanted to drive on the water).

5. Stopped to get gas in Revelstoke.

6. Went on a ferry across the river. Cool :) (The ferry was at Shelter Bay on our way to Nakusp)

...Here we are getting on the ferry.....

....hanging out on the deck on the way over.....

....this is the other ferry going the other way......

...our van (the one with the brown roof topper).....

7. Looked at Halcyon Hot Springs.

8. Driving to Nakusp. (we saw these falls right along the highway.)

9. Went to the information centre ~ sucky! (yeah they didnt have any information about their area at all. We did find out things from locals though)

10. Booked a fishing spot ~ tour on Sat ~ (we did have to cancel this though. Maybe next year)

11. Went and swam in the watre, beautiful beach. (Definetly a hidden gem, Nakusp Public Beach and it is right in the town. Beautiful sand, water, and it was huge. THe picture is just of one section.)

12. Got a campsite in Nakusp.

13. Set up the tent.

14. Ate Supper

15. Went to the movie - Eclipse. (Yes I have now seen it 3 times)

16. Went to bed.

Day 8 - Wed. Aug 11

2010-08-23T14:05:00.008-05:00

1. Woke Up
2. Went to Revelstoke and had breakfast at Dennys.
3. Jada got new shoes. (we woke up this morning and were getting ready to go to sky trek and you have to wear runners and when I went to put Jada's shoes on we discovered that they were WAY to small, so that is why we back tracked into Revelstoke to find shoes)
4. Went to SkyTrek. AWESOME!!! ~swing is cool~ Eric & Sara went on a swing about 50 feet in the air. (Sara was still not tall enough to do the adult course. This is her third year waiting to get up to the big course. She was very disappointed. But in the end I think it was a blessing in disguise. Jada was finally tall enough to do the kids course. :) So Sara was able to go around with her and really encourage Jada. It was a great bonding time for the sisters. Sara was amazing with Jada.
So here they are getting harnessed up. And below is Sara encouraging Jada through the first obstacle.

I just am so proud of Sara and how wonderful she was during this course. I loved to see her gentle self. Below, Sara is helping Jada out of the first obstacle.

Below: Jada onto the next obstacle. You can see in the background the net tunnel they came through.

Sara really gets more creative each time she goes through this course. I have full confidence that next year she will be on the adult course and being more challenged so she enjoyed this to the fullest.

Below: Sara took this picture. Jada was amazing .I thought forsure she would get scared and not go on, but she was a great trooper and conquered the course.

Sara doing summersaults in the net.

Jada taking is easy through the net.

Sara helping Jada get her pully thing to follow along.

Sara swinging from the ropes.

Sara flying through the hardest obstacle.

Jada's rescue. She finally felt terrified at this point. She needed to turn her body around and hug onto the board, but the cables had gotten a lot wobblier at this point in the course, and she started to have a few tears. The man was super kind and quickly came to her rescue.

He really encouraged Jada and got her through this obstacle and she was done with her tears as soon as the guy was out there with her.

She almost didnt even need his help anymore once her got her past her first mix up.

Then while us girls were still waiting for the boys to finish on the adult course, Sara & Jada went through the play course (not sure what is is called. I just went and looked it up and it is the Kids Jungle Gym) THere is no harnesses needed and each obstacle has nets at the bottom so it is super safe and super fun for the kids. It's just like a huge playground. Here Jada & Sara are coming out at the end on the zipline. You just sit on the platform and zip to the bottom.

Below: This is the only picture that I got of the boys. They were headed past the playground and I caught snap of them. They had a blast going through all the courses. This year the hardest part (black) seemed a breeze to them. But they still had an amazing time together.

This year there was a new addition to the fun. They built a tower with 4 new challenges. One was a wall climg, one was a log climb, one was a Sky drop (you totally just jump of the top of the 12m high tower and free fall to the ground while your harness brings you to a slow stop at the bottom. Super freaky to watch.) and finally they have a sky swing. This pendulum swing draws you and a partner 15m high before a terrifying free fall through the forest.

Eric and Sara HAD to try this. (The guy harnessing them up has been one of our guides here for all three years, and this year when he was us coming he totally remembered us and where we were from it was neat.) I have this on video, so no pictures of their actual fall, but it was so fun. (I cant get it to upload to youtube, and I cant get it to upload here either, so if you really want to see the video I can email it to you just ask.) Casey and I couldnt stop laughing. Here is the story:

So the guy asks them if they want a count down for the drop or a surprise. He totally gets them to agree to the surprise drop. So up they go. Freaking WAY UP!! So the pull up finally stops and the guy starts counting down 3...2....1 and we think oh the guy IS counting down....but no he continues to pull them even higher on the 1. So funny! Then he asks them if they are ready. YUP is the answer. Then he asks if they want to put their arms out. NOPE is the answer. A slight pause and then the guy asks them to adjust their helmets in the front a bit. Eric right away was a NOOOOOO, but Sara's one hand left the rope to fix her helmet and as soon as that hand reached her helmet, drop they go. Their faces where awesome. I'm sure they held their breath for the first few seconds. But by the time they get on their first back swing, Sara has her arms out and is literally bouncing in her seat with excitement. Eric put his arms out as well then and they enjoyed the slow down of the swing.

5. Went to Noah's Ark

6. Mom did Laundry

7. Going to 3 Valley Gap to go swimming in the lake.

8. Ate supper at 3 Valley Gap

9. Driving to Naoh's Ark Campground.

10. Got Popcorn

11. Saw the animals. They were crazy.

12. Went to bed.

Day 7 - Tue. Aug 10

2010-08-22T15:00:00.003-05:00

1. Woke Up

2. Me(Sara) & Dad had a shower.

3. Going for breakfast at 3 Valley Gap

4. Went to Revelstoke to get groceries.

5. Kayaking at 3 Valley Gap. """FUN"""
Sara and Casey shared a Kayak, Eric was in his own, and Jada & I shared one.

6. Then we had lunch at 3 Valley Gap.

7. Came back to Noah's Ark and kids stole our water balloons. MADD :( (As we drove past the park at the campground, we saw all our water balloons scattered everywhere. Eric & Sara cleaned them all up and saved what they could.)

8. Going to the Hot Springs to relax. (Casey took a picture of the hair salon on our camping trip. Every time I had to do Jada's hair, this is where we would sit, and she would have a snack. So this picture is of after we are done at the pools)

9. Dad cooked supper over the BBQ.

10. Played at the park and built a huge sand castle..

11. Went to bed.

Day 6 - Mon. Aug. 9

2010-08-22T10:58:00.007-05:00

1. Woke Up
2. We had breakfast at the Truck Stop
3. Played football at the park
4. Drove to the Enchanted Forest. (gotta love this place. the kids love it every year - and we do to - no matter your age it takes you back to your childhood.)
5. Ate at the Truck Stop again. ( Love the large portions and its easy on the wallet when you only have to order 2 meals.)
(5a. Stopped at a hidden gem along the highway. We found these falls last year and still remembered where they where this year. They are called Kay Falls and is just a one minute hike off the highway. Such a beautiful place.)6. Driving to Ghost Town in 3 Valley Gap.
7. Got a tour of Ghost Town. It is AWESOME!!!(I know this seems a little morbid but the kids thought it was fun to have their pictures taken in the coffins.)(the picture of the hats is taken for my Mom ~ it is showing up crazy on this draft so I hope if looks better on the blog ~ she loves old hats and there was an amazing display of them there and I thought of her right away.)(The kids sitting at a dining table in one of the old trains that you can explore)8. Had supper at 3 Valley Gap. (Sara ordered the kids burgers and Casey ordered the special burger they make, I forget what it was called. Sara thought the difference was amazing and had to have a picture of it.)

9. Went to the gift shop to get post cards & Candy really cheap. (Yeah the gift shop in the Ghost Town was the cheapest candy we could find. Awesome.

10. Driving to Noah's Ark camping (we were outside all day)

11. Watched TV (at Noah's Ark they have a flat screen with shows playing in the evening. I dont know if this was the day Eric was watching the football game or if it was teen choice awards. Whatever it was they enjoyed the downtime.)

12, Went to bed.

Day 5 - Sun. Aug 8

2010-08-21T21:01:00.001-05:00

(Can you believe that I dont have one picture of this day. I think this is the day that I forgot the camera in the tent. So I will tell you what we did, but sorry for no visuals. We did these things last year so if you really want to refresh and see you can check out aug 2009)

1. Woke Up
2. Had Breakfast at 3 Valley Gap
3. Played at the park and Mom is doing laundry.
4. We went for a walk and Tsouleen came with us. (that is the owners dog. We walked and saw their lama, alpaca, goat, and sheep)
5. Driving to Sicamous but on the way we are looking for a place to eat.
6. Stopped at Sky Line Truck Stop to eat and the servings are huge HUGE. (Yes, I am sure that one order could feed Eric, Sara, Jada and I. They were insane)
7. Driving to Sicamous to go GoKarting and get ice cream.
8. Went GoKarting. It was AWESOME!!!! (Next year Jada will finally be able to drive one herself)
9. Going to the D Dutchman Dairy to get ice cream. (They have the best ice cream ever. They have all their cows right there and all the ice cream is made fresh there. It is so creamy.)
10. Went to Fruit World. (Must have fresh fruit while in BC, it is so yummy)
11. Going to a grocery store to get meat, plates, rope ect ect.....(yes we finally BBQ's our own supper tonight. At the campground they have an area where there is BBQs available for everyone to use. So it was nice to have a 'home cooked' meal.)
12. Cooked supper over the BBQ
13. Played at the Park
14. Went to bed.

(this was one of our quieter days. It as nice to be able to have a couple of these to have down time)

Day 4 - Sat. Aug 7

2010-08-21T19:19:00.004-05:00

1. Woke Up.

2. I had a shower & Dad too.

3. Going for breakfast at ABC Country.

4. Driving back to the campsite to take down the tent.

5. All packed up & driving to Kicking Horse Mountain to see Boo the Bear. ( You have to take the chair lift up to see his enclosure. Casey & Sara on the way up, and Eric, Jada and I on the way down)

(Boo was out again this year when we came to see him. He put on quit a show for us, but this picture is the best one for sure. Just as we were ready to leave, so did Boo and the next people going up didnt even get to see him)

6. We got to see Boo the Bear really close.

7. Sara and Eric went on this bungy jump and you would jump on a trampoline. They were hooked up to a harness and cords and they would jump on the tramp & the cords would pull you up higher so they could jump really high. (Both Eric and Sara thought this was really cool. They saw other kids doing flips and stuff, but once they got on it was a bit intimidating. Eric did attempt a front flip but didnt quit make it all the way around.)

8. Drove back to Golden and are having lunch at The Turning Point.

9. We are going to the book store and to get glue for the roof topper. (some of our stickers on the roof topper are starting to peel off, so we must reinforce them so they stay on. I forgot to take a picture of our roof topper. Everywhere we go we try to get a sticker and put it on there, it looks really cool. Next year, I will take a pic)

10. On the road going to Revelstoke to go to Noahs Ark. We have to get there today because we have reservations.

11. Got to Noahs Ark Campground and set up the tent and checked in. You can check it out here. We have gone back to this campground three years in a row now and this place feels like family. We love it and will go back again next year.
http://www.rvcampingrevelstoke.com/index.htm

12. We had supper at 3 Valley Gap.

13. Driving to the Crazy Creek Hot Pools. These are nice ones because they have a warm pool, a hot pool and a really hot pool and A COLD POOL. (yes the cold pool is Sara's favorite part. It sits around 12-14 degrees celcius. Brrrrrrrr. The other pools sit at 36 degrees, 39 degrees, and 40 degrees. This is a picture I pulled off their website, but go and check it out for yourself. They are awesome!!! They also have the suspension bridge and waterfalls.)http://crazycreekwaterfalls.com/

14. Came back and got popcorn. Cooked marshmellows over the BBQ. (Every night the campground owners make popcorn for all the campers and its free. Also we are now in fire bans. Boohoo)

15. Went to bed.

Day 3 - Fri. Aug 6

2010-08-21T18:50:00.005-05:00

1. Woke Up (this seems to be important).
2. Had Breakfast. (also very important)
3. Having showers, all of us. (also important)
4. Took down the tent and packed up just before the rain came.
5. Driving onthe road in the rain.
6. Went to the Johnston Canyon and saw waterfalls we got to go threw a cave and were like 15 feet from the waterfall or maybe it was 10. it was an hour hike to the falls and an hour back.

(there was many small falls on the way to the big falls, but I didnt post all the pictures we took from this walk. There just is too many to get on here. And yes, I know we are not suppose to feed the wildlife but they were everywhere waiting for it.)

6(a). (This is my ad on to Sara's book.....we stopped in at Lake Louise just to let the kids feel how cold the water is. Eric and Sara have jumped in every body of water that we have stopped at during the whole trip, so this was a big deal for them, since this was probably the coldest (I think).

testing the waters....

It was a slow process to get in, but they made it in all the way.7. We're on the road driving.

8. Stopped because of something and the line is huge. It is taking forever. (We waited on the highway to Golden for 2 hours. We are assuming it was for construction reasons. Good thing we had snacks in the van)

9. Ate at Dairy Queen and Eric slammed his finger in the door.

10. (ooopsss she skipped to 11)

11. At the Spruce Campground in Golden to see if we can find a campsite.

12. Set up the tent and got a fire going. We are in Golden. (Our site was perfect. We were right beside the park, so the kids could come and go as they pleased. This made Jada very happy)

13. Stayed by the fire and went to the park.

14. It is raining and going in the tent to go to bed. p.s. Eric burnt himself. (this is something we expect from him, so no big deal)

Day 2 - Thurs. Aug 5

2010-08-21T17:09:00.009-05:00

1. Woke Up. Boys had showers.

2. Went for breakfast at some mountain place. (yes it was a resort)

3. Going back to the campsite to get Eric's sunglasses.

4. We went on a horse carriage ride (through Banff.)

5. We went shopping at brand name stores. (lulu lemon, unltd, quicksilver, etc....lots of nice stores in Banff. I could spend a week looking through them all. Along the street we saw this guy juggling on a unicycle. Really cool)6. Went to the Bow River and found a cork in the river (yes this was a memorable moment that required documenting I guess. It even made it home with us) and we are going on a boat tour on the Bow River. Sleeping buffalo mountain. Pretty neat. The head it to the right of the picture (the smaller bump)

7. Went to the campsite, got towels and went to the Banff Hot Springs. They werent that nice. (We have were not impressed with these hot springs. They seemed over crowded, dingy, and not a very relaxing atmosphere at all.)

8. Going to the grocery store to get snacks.

9. Had a fire.

10. Went to bed.

Day 1 - Wed. Aug. 4

2010-08-21T15:50:00.007-05:00

1. Left Gull Lake at 945am and Copper stayed at Harold & Shirley's. Trying to get to Banff. Long Day.

2. At Medicine Hat, stopped at Kal Tire to get an oil change for the van and Jada threw up. (Yes, I dont know what happened with this, but maybe the combo of not eating breakfast, driving and it being hot and then all she ate on the drive was a yogurt. So I dont think she was sick since right away after she threw up, she ate an entire junior burrito from taco time and an iced tea. So an interesting start. It had been a long time since she has thrown up and she shocked herself. She just wanted to know how that happened. Poor girl.

3. Dad forgot blankets so we had to buy blankets. (I also forgot my camera so I had to buy a new one. Found a cheap digital at Wal-Mart. I hope it works okay) I dont think we are going to make it to Banff today.

4. Drove to RedCliff and had to turn back because Mom had to mail Jada's DS. (A return policy I bought on it and thankfully I did, cause now I get a new one when her's broke)

5. Surprise we made it to Banff and got a site. I am so excited.

6. When we stopped in Calgary to get gas, these motorcycle people were there and we helped them get going (boosted there bike) and in Banff we are camping right beside the same people.

7. Set up the tent. Mom is making beds and Dad and us kids are getting fire wood.

8. Went to bed!

Holiday 2010

2010-08-21T15:49:00.003-05:00

Okay, I will post these events in the same way I did last year. Each day will be a new post and I will be following Sara's journal of our days. So I will be leaving all her points intack with my thoughts and ad ons in the brackets. If that makes sense, then hang on for the Harvey Holiday of 2010.

Sleepover

2010-07-23T10:38:00.002-05:00

Sara had her cousin Kate over for a sleep over and they were sleeping in the tent in our backyard. Jada wanted to do it too, and so she did. I really didnt know how it was going to turn out but they all did great. Sara loves to sleep in the tent so I wasnt worried about her. Jada however, I thought for sure wouldnt stay. They watched a movie together on Casey's laptop and had snacks in the tent and then half hour later I went out to check on them and Jada was sound asleep while the big girls where still chatting. Jada had her own airmattress and the big girls where sharing the other one but when I went out in the morning, Kate had moved the Jada's mattress and Jada was snuggled in the Sara.
Oh it makes me so happy to see my two girls like this. I'm so proud of Sara for taking such good care of Jada out in the tent.

Quick summer notes

2010-07-21T17:55:00.005-05:00

These are being put on here, just so I can remember all that we have done so far. Summer 2010 June & July (so far). If I find time later I will post pictures.

Beginning of June we pulled the kids out of school and headed to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park to spark our camping fever. It was great. There was hardly no one around and we got to just hang out together. We did the horse trail rides and Jada got to ride a horse all by herself for the first time. So much fun. She loved it. We stayed three days.

We camped in Kindersley for a weekend, since Casey had to do some work up there, we decided to pull the trailer up and hang out with him. It was nice there and Jada really became comfortable with riding her bike, finally. It is still in process this riding bikes thing, but slowly getting better (training wheels are still ON). We stayed four days.

We then went to Swift Current for one night and that was the day that we went to the Fair. Each year these kids amaze me with their courage. I am not one for the rides, so I am the official carrier of all things. Eric rode really hard and had his first incident with throwing up as well. It didnt slow him down from any rides though. Both his and Sara;s favorite ride has got to be 1001 nauts. (sp??) Uncle Nathan got to come with us this year which was awesome for the big kids. THey had a lot of fun together. Jada hooked up with her friend McKenna and they went hard and rode lots of rides. Jada even tried some bigger rides and loved them. She is growing up so fast. She rode for 3 hours straight and then we had to force her to stop. Grandma & Grandpa Welk camped with us.

The next day we all headed to Cabri Regional Park. This was the Wernicke Family Reunion and it was nice to see some family that we havent seen for a while. Hopefully more people will be able to make it next year. One sad thing about Cabri was that our dog, Copper, got really sick and we were really worried about him. He couldnt even stand or move and he was shaking really bad. BUt thankfully he was okay the next day and slowly started to perk up. The kids all learnt how to play Crib from the great Uncle Ross. And a Crib tournament was had by ALL. We had great weather and were thankful that the hail storms all missed us. We stayed for four days.
We then had a weekend at Outlook. Grandma & Grandpa Welk camped with us here as well. What a beautiful area. The long pedestrian bridge over the river is amazing. The kids played in the sand (what little was left because of the water levels being so high this year). Are main reason for going here was so that Carla Chabot could take our family pictures. She is an amazing photographer. She scopped out the area looking for a beach location for us and she found Danielson Beach which was awesome. We had great sun for that evening and got some great pictures. IT was really great fun to have her take our pictures. It also was great to have another weekend with G & G Welk. We stayed for three days.

Then the next day we headed back to Cypress Hills. We sure do love it there. It is so beautiful. We got a great spot, which you never know since it is a first come first serve basis. We did the trail rides again. It really is the girls favorite thing to do in the summer. Now they both think they need cowgirl boots. Hmmmm....... We also did Kayaking. We havent done this since we were at Camp Sagitawa at Moberly Lake, BC, so probably 6 years. Jada rode in mine since she is still too little to do it herself. Copper rode with Casey and this caused some good belly laughing. Copper jumped out three times into the lake. The last time was in the middle of the lake and Casey just had to pull him in, water and all. It was so funny. THey both were soaked. Copper shivered for the next two hours I;m sure. Poor Casey had to walk all the way back the to camp site in soaked jeans. Kayaking was Eric's favorite!! We will be doing this again. Then on the walk back to the trailer, Eric was giving Jada a piggy back and Jada started to fall asleep on his back. It was so cute.

Well that is it so far for the summer...OH WAIT!!! Eric, Sara, Jada all had swimming lessons for two weeks, and they all passed and got a badge. Eric passed Rookie, Sara passed Swimmer 6, and Jada passed Swimmer 1. Hooray for swimming.

Jada also got her hair cut at the salon for the first time this summer. She had a deep conditioning treatment, got her hands dipped in the hot wax, and had a much needed trim and she loved it. I was so sad that I never took the camera along. BUT Jada sat so good, and just chatted with the hair dresser about all kind of random things.

Well I thing that is it so far for this summer, it is only July 21 so there is still so much to come....goalie camp for Eric in S'toon, Hancock Family Reunion, and our BC trip.....so I will post more once it is over.

Jada's Kindergarten Orientation

2010-06-03T23:22:00.002-05:00

May 31, 2010 ~ My last baby is dropped off at the big school at 1pm. I was feeling so flustered over this new era that we are entering, that I forgot to bring my camera. AHHHHH. Hope some mom's will share a few of their pics with me.

Jada was ecstatic to be going to the big school. She is so ready for kindergarten. We have a bit of work to do over the summer to finalize that, like writing our letters and numbers, and counting to 100. Stuff that will come with time, but we'd like to start now to give her a good start, since these are not strong points of hers.

She loved being there with her friends. Olivia and Adam where with her in the afternoon class, which made her heart sore. (Since Adam has proposed to her and she said yes, and I have it on video. Will post if I can figure it out.)

I on the other hand was a crying, blubbering mess when I left the school. Full out crying in my truck. When Eric went to kindergarten, I had Sara at home to distract me (still cried though). When Sara went to kindergarten, I was almost due with Jada so that kept me distracted (still cried though), now that my BABY was at kindergarten nothing was at home to distract me (other than Casey and packing to go camping, which was a blesssing). But come September, a whole new era is starting of all three kids being in school. What will I do with myself? I cant think of it yet, but will take it as it comes.

First Camping of 2010

2010-06-03T23:11:00.002-05:00

Casey is not having any weekends off for a while so we decided to pull the kids from school and just hit the road with the trailer. We LOVE camping and just needed to get out there and do it. We left right after Jada's kindergarten orientation (oh I will do a write up about that too) on Monday. We hooked up the trailer and headed to Cypress Hills. This is the first time hooking up with our new truck and hauling somewhere to stay for a "weekend". We had wonderful weather, a quiet camp site and tons of FUN.

I took the kids on a horse trail ride, which we love. It is the best one we have found so far. This year was Jada's first time riding the horse ALL BY HERSELF. She was super excited and loved it when the horses would trot and we would get bounced. Sara talks the whole way which is fabulous. Jada even talked to the guide at random times throughout the 45 minute ride which is totally her coming out of her shell. Eric is more of a quiet rider, but yet always commentating on what is happening. It was so fun to be at the back of the pack and just take in these wonderful kids and the bond that time together creates.

We also did mini golf. Always a hoot to watch how each kid interprets "golfing".

We mainly spent time at the fire (Casey and I) and the kids had a pretty free range of the camp ground since there were no people around. Eric and Sara even started to include Jada in some excurtions and building of forts which is a bonus of her growing up. They are great with her and really had some bonding time with her.

We got no pictures, since I forgot the camera which is a forehead slapper if ever I had one. But our memories are still here. So thankful my kids are healthy and we are able to spend time together as a family.

Oh and Copper learned to appreciate the water finally. Last year he was scared to go in any water, but this year he was bouncing like a rabbit through the water and even went far out enough that he actually was swimming. It was fun to watch him enjoy himself.

We came home Wednesday afternoon. Two great nights of camping. And Casey & I didnt even fight TOO bad about parking the trailer. He is really great at doing it, so I have learnt to bite my tongue. I know nothing about it.

Strike a Pose

2009-12-01T10:11:00.002-06:00

So I have a little poser! We were able to go to the Skates N Skirts Store in Mossbank over the weekend, and we got the girls matching Figure skating dresses. Jada is in love with her dress. She wanted me to take pictures of her different poses. Now, she came up with these all on her own. I will get pictures of the girls together and post them at a later date.

Linesman

2009-11-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

Well, last week, Eric got himself a little 'job'. He is now old enough to be a linesman for any age group younger than him. He is very excited about this new adventure. And I must say, for his first two games he did well. Learning lots. The new boys did have a mentor and that was an excellent thing. He really helped the boys A LOT.

My camera takes really terrible pictures in our rink, but it was nice to capture his first game. I think his favorite part was dropping the puck.

Skate Boot Covers

2009-11-18T13:50:00.002-06:00

So, these wouldnt load to facebook, so I am posting them here.

Jada's feet get so cold at CanSkate, so I decided to sew up some warm fuzzy covers for her to wear on the ice. Maybe this will help to keep her toesies warm. ANd I couldnt just sew them for one girl, so Sara got a pair of green snowflake ones as well. Jada's are the pink flower & butterfly ones. Both girls think they are awesome. I'll let you all know if they work. Till then.....

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T13:34:00.005-06:00

What a beautiful day it was for all the trick n' treatin' there was to be had today!! Though we had a very sick Sara and she got no treating in. Earlier in the week we carved the pumpkins that we got from Grandma & Grandpa Welk. Jada would have nothing to do with the 'guts' inside the pumpkin. She was content to draw his face and hair on the front.

Eric and Sara are both very much into scooping the inside out with their hands. Ewww...is all I have to say about that. Both Eric and Sara get to use the knife and carve the creation of their choice for their pumpkins and each year they are gettin better and better.

Here is Sara with her finished pumpkin, it's a kitty. (I did help her draw it on and do some of the cutting.)

Jada wrapped her 'baby' in a blanket for the pictures. (She could carry around her pumpkin for days. It's so cute)

Eric did the vomitting pumpkin this year!!! NICE.

Here's a picture of the girls in their costumes. This was Jada's daytime costume, a mermaid. For the evening of trick or treating she was Sully off of Monsters Inc.

Eric was a homeless man, and I didnt even take one picture of him. Boo. So till next halloween...

A Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa

2009-09-30T19:02:00.002-05:00

Two weekends ago, we went to Grandma & Grandpa Welk's place to celebrate Jada's Birthday. ALso, Eric & Nathan got to go to a Calgary Flames game (in Saskatoon) with Grandpa. They had a really fun time. My Mom made Jada this amazing house cake. Jada loved the cake! The candles were fun sparklers.

And the presents were very serious business to open. Jada got playdough!! JOY!!!

Jada's 1st Day of Preschool 2009

2009-09-15T17:44:00.002-05:00

So the school year has finally started for all three kids. Sara is in Grade 4 and Eric is now in middle years in Grade 6. What a big step that felt like. Also, Jada started preschool yesterday. (She did go last year as well for half the year, so this is second time around, just with a different teacher) Jada doesnt want to go to "preschool" so she is going to "playtime" with her friends. (That's what we call it now) Here she is all ready to go, and she was actually excited this afternoon. She got to wear her backpack (which was Sara's backpack for preschool back in the day, which Jada thought was really cool that both Sara's name and hers is now on the backpack) The whole walk to school, she chitter chatted my ear off. It was great to see her in a good mood! Here she is finding her name tag with her new teacher, Mrs. Mittleholtz! She was so amazing with the kids.

She ran right to the babies and started playing with some of the other girls. It was great to have a different experience with preschool. Probably b/c she is a bit older and more mature that she is handling it better.

And when I went to pick her up, she was super excited about getting a smelly pencil and sucker from her teacher. The she chatted all the way home again. So proud of you Jada!

Day 12 - Aug 9

2009-08-12T21:20:00.002-05:00

Woke up.
Went for Breakfast
Packed up the tent site for the last time
Came home.....that is where a whole new exhaustion starts. THe washing and cleaning of clothes, van, blankets.....now we have spent the next couple of days trying to recover from our adventure. For my record sake, I need to add that I slept with a toque on for 7 out of 12 of those days. So so long to our 2009 summer vacation....looking forward to 2010 already!!!

Day 11 - Aug 8th

2009-08-12T21:17:00.003-05:00

Now that Sara is gone I have to narate for myself. Today we got up, and G & G Welk and Sara headed home to Assiniboia from Calgary. Casey, Jada, Eric and I continued on to Maple Creek to pick Copper up from the Kennel. (he spent all his time at G & G Welks but the one night they camped at Calgary with us he had to go there) Man, he was so excited to see us. and we were equally excited to see him. From here we headed back to Cypress Hills for one last night of Camping. While there we just chillaxed and had a fire, saw a family band play at the ampitheatre...pretty simple day!

Day 10 - Aug 7th

2009-08-12T19:53:00.003-05:00

1.woke up
2. packed up
3. went to Calaway Park (we met Grandma & Grandpa Welk here. This was part of the kids Christmas Present from them. It was a great time. We stayed the night at Calaway Campground too. Grandpa has most of the pictures on his camera, so maybe once I get some of those I will add here)

4. adventure is over (that is for Sara. She went home with Grandma & Grandpa to have her special week with them. Casey's talking to her on the phone right now and she is working hard and having fun. Miss you Sara. We continued on with our adventure for two more days.)

Day 9 - Aug 6th

2009-08-12T19:39:00.002-05:00

1. woke up
2. packed up tent (this is us with Jano & Sonia, the owners of Noah's. They are amazing people.)
and this was one of their dogs Tsoulene. She is the baby, only 9 months old. The kids would take her for walks and play with her. Very nice dog.3. ate breakfast
4. on the road
5. camping at banff
6. got a site
7. shopping in banff
8. horse carriage ride around banff (this is not us in the carriage. I had to lift this from the website, but it was a nice ride.)
9. went to lulu store
10. fire (firebans had been on since our second day, so this was a treat)

11. sleep

Day 8 - Aug 5th

2009-08-12T09:53:00.004-05:00

1. woke up
2. got dressed (another very important part of our day)
3. going to eat breakfast at 3 valley gap
4. play at the park
5. argo rides (check out Noah's Ark Resort website to see what these look like. This is another event we forgot the camera for. In short it is an amphibious ride on a "thing" that has 8 wheels and goes from trail to water. It is kind of neat)
6. Play at the park
7.Stung by a wasp (oh the poor girl. Sara got bit right behind her earlobe. Her whole ear swelled up and was red.)
8. going for lunch
9. Kay Falls (these were an amazing sight. Off the #1 highway we just pulled onto a rest area, not even a marked one, just a random dirt spot to stop. With cars zipping by, we doned our running shoes to walk for these falls we heard about from locals, WELL, we entered the unmarked path and a 2 minute walk, no kidding. Like right behind the first layer of trees where these BEAUTIFUL falls. Huge they were.

You can see the kids and Casey at the base of the falls. They were huge. The river below it was amazing. Everything sparkled with "fools gold" in my opinion. Every rock you picked up and flakes of it floated everywhere. I couldnt believe this gem is hidden without a sign to guide people here. We were sure to share our find with other campers at the campground.

10. Sky Trek, Jada's trek. Jada smacked her nose. (So the day everyone else did their courses, this little kids course for age 2 & up and no harnesses required, was still closed and close to being finished they told us. So stopped in just to check if it was open. Well it had just opened that morning. So off the girls went. Sara went along to encourage her. Jada did wonderful. Never scared of any course they had. She even started being brave and doing summersaults in the nets and stuff.

They could do this course an unlimited number of times, so the girls went threw for quite a while. They Jada got going pretty fast and slipped and slipped through some steps and banged her nose. (see below) but it didnt stop her from going again. She was an amazing tropper.

11. Truck stop supper (HUGE meals, bigger than I have ever seen before. One order could have fed Eric, Sara, Jada and I (shayne). We also met some firefighters from Ontario who where fighting the fires close by and they let us know that it was finally under control. Thank you firefighters.)

12. Bed

Day 7 - Aug 4th

2009-08-12T08:43:00.007-05:00

1. woke up
2. went to sky trek (here is the pictures. I have so many good pictures of Eric & Casey doing their first course since there was a professional photographer there, but it is hard to upload those pictures here, so just a few to share. Eric & Casey went all the way through to the black course. Man some spots looked scarey and at times they were REALLY high in the trees, but they finished all the courses. Here is Casey doing a summersault in the nets.

High fives while going down the ziplines.

Here is a picture trying to show how high it was. You can see the ground, Eric on the lower platform, and then Casey on the upper platform. THis was the beginning of BLACK!!!

The boys are still wearing their gear, and the girls are wearing their helmets so we could watch.

Here is Sara geared up to go through her course. She still wasnt tall enough to do the adult course. This was very upsetting, since we for sure thought she would be, but we will wait and see agian next year.

The guy that was running the course gave Sara some things to try to make the course more challenging. Like going backwards, eyes closed, one hand. So that was fun for her.

Doing a summersault in the nets (this is where Casey got the idea from)

Eyes closed on this course!

3. ate at three valley gap

4. on the road (going to revelstoke to check out some shops)

5. dad looks cool

6. mom looks awesome (ah thanks Sara)

7. shopping revelstoke

8. cook supper (Casey again bbq'd for us, boy was it yummy)

9. played at park

10. sleep (what a much slower day, though Sky Trek takes a long time to get through. I think we were there from 9am till 2pm)

Day 6 - Aug 3rd

2009-08-10T11:03:00.006-05:00

1. woke up (waking up here near Sicamous was very smokey. Forest fires would have been only 45 minutes away from us. Is was sad not to see the beautiful scenery every morning.)
2. tarp on tent (neighbors must have said forcast for rain, but we never did get any)
3. going to three valley gap for breakfast. (we collected stickers from all the places that we went and here is Casey & Sara putting them on the roof topper. I loved the sun rays coming down, God's blessing for our trip)

4. Enchanted Forest (I have so many pictures from here. The kids loved it again this year. I love watching them run around and explore. Jada's favorite place this year was Little Miss Muffet.)

Say no Evil, Hear no Evil, See No Evil.

The ducks where eating right out of their hands. It was so fun to watch the ducks fight for the food. THey where fighting with the fish in the pond.

5. Got a bear (Sara had been asking to buy a teddy bear every place we went. Some as much as $50, and we kept saying NO, but we finally gave in and let her get a much more resonably prices one at the enchanted forest)

6. lunch subway sicamous

7. Go Karting (I had never been go karting and this was definelty on my to do list. It was so much fun. Everyone got to participate. Jada kept telling me to go faster. Eric got extra time since he was reallly into it. Sara really enjoyed it as well)

above is Eric.

below is Sara in the green & white car, and Casey in the black car.8. D Dutchmen Dairy (this was amazing ice cream. we got to go back behind the building and they had the adult cows that you could see & pet, then the barn beside with the babies and you could pet them too, and they also had horses, peacock, llamas, pigs all to interact with for FREE. The ice cream wasnt free but it tasted so yummy. Made fresh right here in the building.)Can you find the kids?Sara of course, loved the horse again.

Eric petting the calf.

Here is the ice cream shop part. It was so busy, and it had so many flavors to choose from that it took us forever to get through there. Each freezer had 8 flavors and there where 3 freezers, so let me do some math . . . that makes 24 flavors to choose from. So what did we have, Jade=orange creamcicle, Eric=chocolate milkshake, Sara=peppermint patty, Casey=vanilla milkshake, Shayne=peppermint patty. I just had to phone Sara and ask her what flavours we had. She is the best at remembering. Sara is at Grandma & Grandpa Welk's for the week.)9. suspension bridge (at Crazy Creek, this is a fun place to come. It has also expanded since last year as well. It is run by a Christian guy, so Sunday's are free entrance. We went on Monday. D'oh)

Last year this bridge freaked me out, but this year, the fear was concored so I could have some fun on it with the kids.

The little boardwalk down to the falls.

If you look through the trees, there is three hot pools that is part of Crazy Creek as well and we went swimming there twice.

Here are the falls that you walk over.

10. make supper (we actually went to a grocery store and bought some meat, potatoes, corn on the cob and cooked it back at Noah's. They provide two barbeques to be used by everyone, along with tables and chairs, microwave, coffee. It's great. Everyone appreciated a home cooked meal.) 11. Park (there was a park right below our tent site, so we let the kids have some down time to play and make friends.)

12. Swimming (oh at the hot pools. One pool is 86degrees, one is 102degrees, and one is 104degrees. then there is the cold pool plunge. Sara would jump into the cold plunge over and over again. It was freezing, glacier fed. Jada also started swimming on her own here. The water wings came off and away she went. She couldnt totally do it by herself, but it was great to see her start trying. This is a huge step for her since she doesnt like water being on her face and she was swimming underwater. Good job Jada. Again we didnt have the camera.)

13. sleep

Day 5 - Aug 2nd

2009-08-10T10:20:00.003-05:00

1. wake up
2. packed up (we are moving on the Noah's Ark Resort today . It is a campground near Enchanted Forest)
3. ABC Restaurant for Breakfast. (They were really good too. and fast)
4. Quantum Leap Raft Tour (since Jada isnt old enough to go whitewater rafting, this is the next best thing. It is a 1hr 20min tour down the Blaeberry River on a raft. Small tiny rapids to go over, just enough to get your feet wet. The scenery was beautiful. We went through a canyon that was spectacular)

5. Shopping in Golden

6. Bought books in Golden.

7. Red Barn (a petting zoo full of rare/in danger/unique animals. we went here last year as well and it was neat to see the progress they have made. Sara was most interested in the baby horse.

Jada got to hold a lion head rabbit.

Eric hangin' with Sara the donkey.

And this is Simon the pig. Last year he was just a baby and we got to feed him.

8. on the road

9. noah's ark resort - google this and have a look!!

10. set up tent

11. popcorn (every night they make popcorn for all the campers. This is our most favorite campground. The owners are amazing and they make it feel so family orientated. Jano & Sonia make everyone feel like family there.) & glowsticks

12. sleep

Day 4 - Aug 1st

2009-08-10T09:27:00.004-05:00

1. woke up (this is an important part of the day. we are now in Golden)
2. Eric got 3rd Degree Burn. (Yeah, firebans are on and we cant have a fire, but our son manages to get a terrible burn. Casey and Eric were trying to burn the ends of a string from Eric's shorts. Yeah, well that hot melty material dripped and landed right on Eric's finger, which he immediately tried to fling off, and then it landed on several spots on his legs. Sigh. So he has this huge blister on his finger, and two spots on his legs. Very painful. So the first stop of the day was to find ozonol and bandaids.)
3. Went up chairs. (At Kicking Horse Resort you can go up chair lifts and go see "Boo" the bear at a refuge. The first picture isnt us, since we forgot our camera for this. But is shows just how close you can be to the bear. He did come out for us to see, which was amazing. He was beautiful. I have to admit that I was terrified going up this lift. Good thing I was with Jada & Eric and had to be the brave Mom. Not that they were scared.)

Picture below is of the resort. The hotel and shops are to the right and the lift & gondola are to the left. 5. went up Gondolas. (at the same resort they have gondolas to head up to the top of the mountain. And Yes, they did convince me to go up on this as well. We did remember to go get the camera first. Going up was great. I didnt mind this as much as the chair lift.

Once at the top the view was AMAZING. I love the mountains. Oh, and we saw this little theif come out of the garbage can. He found himself some licorice. (there is a restaurant up there)

This also is a huge attraction for extreme mountain bikers. They take their bikes up in the gondolas and then can bike down the mountain. So in the picture above you can see one of the trails for bikers. And they have to wear some bulky gear to do this. Full head to toe padding. It was cool to watch them.On the way down (and up) you go right over the bear refuge area, so if you are lucky you will get to see Boo again from there. ANd we did see him on the way up. Jada found him. And on the way down we watched pretty close for him but didnt see him. Mind you we had lots of time to look for him, since the gondola STOPPED right over him. Yup, STOPPED for like 20 minutes. Now I thought I was really going to die. First time it stopped it swung pretty good. Heart is pounding pretty hard, trying to be brave. Then it started up and quickly stopped again causing the gondola to BOUNCE up and down LOTS. Oh my word, panic attack started.

We did survive, but it was very scarey. Thank goodness for "I Spy with my Little Eye" to keep us occupied, and our adult minds off of all the terrible things that could happen.

Here we are enjoying a cool treat at the bottom.

7. going to Golden

8. Wolf Centre (we got to see three wolves, and learn about them.)

9. swimming pool (just at the local outdoor pool. it was a hot day and we needed some cooling off. Then, just as we were coming out of the pool, huge clouds came up. So we went for supper and while we were in the restuarant, the power is flickering, lightening outside, thunder, rain, WINDS. Oh no, what is happening to our tent. . . all is fine once the clouds blow over within an hour, but we did go and buy ourselves a tarp for the rest of the trip)

10. Sleep (which came really easy at the end of every day)

Day 3 - July 31st.

2009-08-10T08:41:00.004-05:00

Day 3
1. have shower (now these are not always recorded and I think we showered more often than Sara has recorded. Just so you know we were clean the whole time. :o)
2. take down tent
3. on the road
4. ate at denny's (we love to eat here, and ate at a denny's quit often)
5. 950am at hills (leading into the mountains. We made a lot of stops on the way. One is at the tunnel mountains. Here are the kids in the mock tunnel.
Sitting on a pretty rock. Sara was being so nice to her sister. I love that!Being goofy and waving at the traffic. They actually got some people to wave back.Here they are skipping rocks. I dont know what the name of this rest area is, but it is beautiful there. The water is FREEZING cold. They all waded around in it anyway.Then just as we entered Golden, there were mountain goats just sitting beside the highway. They let us get pretty close. They were amazing looking. So beautiful.6. ate at greek restaurant (this was in Golden. our destination for the day)
7. Wet N' Wild Jet Boat. (This is a picture that I grabbed off their website, since I wasnt taking my camera on this very wet and wild ride. We were the only ones on the ride, so Eric, Sara and Casey sat in the very back and got SOAKED. Jada and I sat in the front since it was the safest place to have Jada. This is one awesome boat. It has 800 horsepower. It doesnt actually turn corners, it glides around them. It does 360's at the drop of a hat. Our drivers guy was awesome and took us for a great ride. IT was about 1hr 20min long. It was on the Columbian River)

Day 2 - July 30th

2009-08-09T19:53:00.004-05:00

1. Get white hot chocolate with dad

2. going to Ivans for breakfast

3. went on a trail ride, my horses name was Ebony, (Eric's was Smokey, and Jada & I had Herc)

4. going to eat lunch
5. went shopping at super wal-mart in medicine hat.

6. on the road

7. stayed at west calgary campground.

8. set up tent in rain

The next morning Casey was way to perky and was up and at em. Showered and taking pictures of the rest of us trying to get some zzzzzzzzz. Eric in his mummy bag.

Sara giving a big stretch to get the day going. She also got the blow up mattress to herself. Eric prefered the ground. Lucky girl.

Jada waking up as a beautiful butterfly. At night, we'd put our caterpillar in her cacoon and in the morning, voila, a beautiful butterfly. It worked every night.

The site at West Calgary. So technically these pictures where taken on day 3, but oh well.

Part 2 of Day 1

2009-08-09T19:11:00.002-05:00

Sara was ever so kind to be the keeper of our journal. She diligently kept track of the things we did on each day. This is such a life saver right now as I do these blogs. Without her notes, I would be lost. So at the beginning of each post will be Sara's rendition of our trip (then I will elaborate in brackets).
Day 1
1. Eat at Cedars
2. Stop at Gas Station
3. Sara on Radio (just as we were leaving Gull Lake it was request hour on the radio, so Sara phoned in to reguest a song, and they put her on the radio. She requested love story by taylor swift)
4. tent at cypress
5. went to campsite.
6. didnt like campsite
7. askig for new site
8. get new site.
9. set up tent
10. make hamik
11. blowing up mates (two double size air mattresses, Love them)
12. pick up wood
13. eat at ivan's restaurant
14. went for 2.6 km walk
15. have a fire
16. look for cool rocks
17. cooking popcorn (on the fire, very yummy)
18. make fort
19. color fire (those neat little packets you can buy and then when you throw them in the fire you get blue, green, purple flames)
20. sleep

We also ran into Eric's friend Bradley (and two of his friends) who lives across the street. So they hung out for a while. They are doing sparklers in the last picture.

Our Summer Vacation!!!! Start!

2009-08-09T18:52:00.005-05:00

So here we are back at home from our summer vacation to BC. I want to blog all about our trip, but we did A LOT!!!!! So each day will come with one or two blog posts so you can follow along on our holiday. These are the pictures of us in the van at the very beginning of our trip. This would be part 1 of day 1. July 29th!

Fair

2009-07-07T11:00:00.003-05:00

Sara on one of the "boring" rides as she said. Its the one that goes up and then drops really fast. Eric starting off on an easy ride.

We went to the fair this year. Kids all got bracelets so they could ride, ride, ride. It was a cooler day so jackets were needed. But the day still was great. Eric and Sara were finally both tall enough to go on EVERY ride, and they did go on every ride. The two older kids are thrill seekers. They must get this from Casey. Jada, however, is cautious like me. Here's just a few pictures of the day. (I followed Jada around and Casey followed Eric and Sara, so most pictures are from Jada since I had the camera.) Casey did join the kids on most of the rides as well, or until his tummy was so sick he needed a break.

Eric and Sara did the ring of fire. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Sara just skimmed her way on, and the guy had told Eric to put his arm around Sara to help hold her in. Well, Sara barely was big enough to be held in. When she got off, she was shaken up for about 20 minutes. But back she went to do all the other rides.

Eric and Sara are the two with their hands in the air. I am still in amazement that they did all these rides. And it wasnt like they went once, no it was over and over again from 2pm till 1030pm. And we had to force them to stop for 1/2 hour to eat.

Here Jada is riding with some friends from Gull Lake, Jalayna and Dayne. She had a lot of fun.

These horses where a highlight for Jada. We went on several times. At around 530pm, Jada went home with Grandma & Grandpa Welk to have her summer time by herself with them on the farm. She is growing up so fast. She went along and stayed for 4 days and didnt have one complaint. Good job Jada. (It was kind of nice to have her gone, that way we could stay till after dark with Eric & Sara and let them see and enjoy the rides in the dark. They especially enjoyed that)

Jada's Year End Program

2009-07-02T08:44:00.002-05:00

Jada's Playschool did their year end program at the Special Care Home & Autumn House here in Gull Lake. They wore these cute matching outfits. Jada did the first song okay, but then needed me to sit beside her at the front. So I enjoyed a close up of the presentation. This is Abby, and Jada really likes her. They will be in the same class for school.

Singing more songs.

I was really impressed that she knew the songs and even half sang them during the performance.

Good Job Jada!!! Back to playschool next year!

Copper First Hair Cut

2009-07-02T08:10:00.002-05:00

So this is Copper all shaggy in his before picture. It was getting hard for him to see, I'm sure. SInce I had a hard time seeing his eyes, he mustnt be able to see out either. Oh but he is so so cute!!!!

And this is the handsome boy we picked up!! They did such a great job. And they said he sat like an angel, and that his coat was in excellent condition. The blue bandana even came from the puppy salon.

His fur is growing really fast already. This was two weeks ago, and his hair is coming back in full force. I think he might be a high maintenance pup. Oh well. He is worth it.

Face Painting!

2009-06-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

OKay, so we made it to Windscape here in June...it is a kite flying festival...man did we see some AWESOME kites. Some where huge, some where small, some homemade, some with a story. They were amazing. There was these octapus' and they where HUGE, like amazing. I didnt have my camera (since I didnt know that we would be going to this event). But inspite of some drizzle and a lot of wind, we had a really great time. The girls got their faces painted, so once we got home I took pictures. Jada is a purple puppy (all sleepy looking from the ride home).

Sara got this cute rainbow.

Also this day we went and watched some soapbox car races. The kids were bored there so we went for ice cream at Hazy's and then headed to windscape. Great day with the kids!!!

Eric's Playday

2009-06-23T13:49:00.002-05:00

Well, here is Eric at his LAST playday. He will be moving into middle years next year and wont get playday anymore. TIme has gone by so fast. Ball Toss.

Standing Broad. 2nd Place.

Jada enjoyed her morning playing with some friends as well. The girl in the blue hat is Abby, they go to school together.

Sara's PlayDay

2009-06-23T10:27:00.002-05:00

Well the kids finally had a nice day to have "play day" which in reality would be the same as when we had track days in elementary years. This is the first time that I have made it to watch, and I am glad I did. Here is Sara with her friends Leah and Taylor. Sack races. I arrived just as they finished and where flopping down in exhaustion, so I made them get up and strick a pose for me. Sara came in second.

Ball toss.

Relay race. Sara was doing really well, in second, but then her bean bag fell out of her pail and so she stopped to fix it, which put her near last, but she ran hard and came back to take third. Way to go Sara.

What a great day to hang out with the kids!!!

Gold

2009-06-22T11:24:00.003-05:00

Eric's Baseball Team won Gold in their league this year. Here he is receiving his gold medal. And his team. Great job boys and coaches!!!

2009-06-22T10:53:00.002-05:00

Finally got some pictures of Sara and her ball team. They had so much fun this year. They all improved so much over the year. Sara turned out to be a great hitter. He throwing arm is getting stronger. Jada and Royal playing in the dirt.

Sara swining big at the ball, but unfortunately didnt hit this one.

My Mom & Bill & little brother Nathan made it out for Minor Ball Day to watch Sara and ERic play their last games of the season. It was great fun.

Flower

2009-06-17T11:41:00.002-05:00

Wow, its so hot here that we have been watering flowers like crazy. But it is worth it b/c we are getting some really beautiful flowers. Thanks to Mom for planting them last fall, and Jada for being my great water helper.

Eric's Baseball

2009-06-09T13:13:00.003-05:00

My kids are so sporty!! I dont know where they get it. I did not play sports. Casey played some hockey, but Eric & Sara are die hards and GOOD at it too!!!

So first, Eric! (cause I have yet to take pictures of one of Sara's games) He has done some pitching at a couple of games. It is not his favorite place to be, but when the kids are only allowed so many pitches before they need breaks, he is called on sometimes to pitch. He does good!Jada spent her time resting on these two lawn chairs at the fox valley game. It was a long day as the boys had already played a morning game in Leader and now in the afternoon we were at Fox Valley and it was VERY hot outside!

Anyway, onto the ball game. Here he is hitting, this one was a foul ball! He has become a great hitter! Eye on the ball!

Back catcher is where you will find him most of the time. I think this position must go hand in had with playing goalie for the hockey team. He likes to have fast flying objects coming at his head. Hum. Boys. He is very good at back catching!!

Getting geared up for catching.

Sara hoola-hooping with two hoops. She is good at it. Kept her occupied for most of the first game in Leader.

So stay tuned for pictures of Sara's baseball. I dont know when her next game is....so could be a week or so.

Jada Update

2009-06-05T09:18:00.003-05:00

So the Doctors office called to ask Jada to come in and be checked out. As the swelling started to come down a bit in the afternoon, I did find a bug bite above her eyebrow. So she was having an allergic reaction to a bug bite. I need to give her children's aereus for three days to make sure it goes down all the way. Also, I am to carry benadryl along with me incase she reacts to other bug bites too. What kind of bug bite her? I have no idea. Maybe spider is my quess. Cant be mosquito, b/c she's got a couple of those and no reaction. She's not awake yet this morning for me to see how she is, just I'm sure she will be just fine.

OKay Edited to say that I am surprised this morning that it is still so swollen. Her eye is right shut today. Man, I need to keep an eye on this!!!

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Gravel, Shovel, Rake, Sweat

2009-06-04T11:10:00.002-05:00

We are tired of having a weed garden in our backyard, so we decided to turn it into the kids play area. We had 6 yards of washed pea gravel delivered to our house on Tuesday morning at 9. I spent the morning shoveling, & raking to get it spread out over our garden area (oh except the strawberries where left outside the gravel area b/c they produce some sweet berries). Several blisters, lots of sweat and a sore back later I had most of it done by 11am. Jada was my great encourager. She started out with a shovel of her own, but one scoop later it was "oh that is too heavy for me". So Jada followed me around all morning saying "good job Mommy!" "you are doing really good Mommy" Several times I just had to stop, chuckle and give her a kiss. (It made me think of the times my Mom would work in her garden and I would grab my lawn chair and just sit and watch her) She kept me going. She also is my photographer! She was busy taking many pictures of the morning. Here are a few...

I used the wagon at the very beginning. I would fill the wagon and then dump it at the farthest end of the garden area, since I couldnt throw the gravel that far with the shovel. It was a great system.

And all finished. The trampoline and the swing set both fit in there. The kids are enjoying it. I am going to enjoy having my grass grow back and no weeds to pick (except around the strawberries)

Swelling

2009-06-04T10:56:00.004-05:00

THis poor girl is having some terrible luck lately. First a fat lip, and now her face is swollen. Around supper time last night her eyebrow by her right eye was swelling. We couldnt see any bite site, so not that. No bruising, so no bumps. Hum, slight fever (could be from being tired, this happens) But this morning when she woke up, her whole side of her face is swollen. (Its hard to see in the picture) SHe could barely open her eye (she is pushing really hard

in the picture to get it open) her nose is swollen, and her cheek. Her face is hot to touch. No fever this morning. Ack!! What to do!!! I gave her benadryl and she will see the doctor at noon today. Man oh man. Plus she fell at school yesterday and skinned both knees, which required clown bandaids from her teacher! (sorry no pictures of those)

Edited to say that she does have a fever....just checked it again....

Queen of the Castle

2009-06-04T10:46:00.003-05:00

And for reference sake here is a recent picture of Copper sitting with Jada. He has gone from being 8lbs at his first vet appointment when he was 11 weeks old to being 11lbs when he was 14 weeks old and now he goes again for a booster shot next week (17 weeks old) so we will see how much he has grown then. I am contemplating getting him his first hair cut....uh....it is a hard decision. My baby needing a hair cut already!! Will his fur grow back to be as beautiful as it is now!!

I found these foam floor alphabet puzzle things....Jada has been having a lot of fun building squares and things with them. So I showed her how to put them all together to make a big castle. She really liked this. Stike a pose girl....

Mom had to have her turn too...Jada is getting really good at taking pictures.

Inside the Trailer

2009-06-03T11:56:00.003-05:00

Okay, Colleen, you requested to see the inside of the new trailer, so this post is just for you.
When you first open the door, here is the kitchen. To your immediate right is the master bedroom with a queen bed (under it is complete storage)Here is to the left, the dining area.

THe one slide out is the sofa. And in the very back is the door to the bathroom and to the left of the door is the kid's beds. A double on the bottom and single on top.

I should have taken picutures before I packed it all. BUt you get the idea. Now you will have to come out and see it some weekend!

Jada's First Fat Iip

2009-06-01T17:03:00.002-05:00

Oh Yeah...Jada had a run in with the swing set. She pushed the teeter totter one by herself really hard....and bonk it came back and hit her right in the mouth. I was not home at the time, but Casey says the blood & tears where flowing. Poor girl! It only took two days for it to go down, but ahhhh the memory.

The NEw Trailer!!!

2009-06-01T14:33:00.004-05:00

Yup, we got a trailer. The old motorhome was feeling a little cramped this year. WIth the kids growing, and a new dog. This trailer will give us much more options on where we would like to camp. Right now we are parked at Lac Pelletier, with my family on their lot. We are so thankful that my family is willing to have us hang out there all summer long.

Right where we are there is this wonderful sand hill and the kids spent most of their time up there playing. Sara barried Jada in the sand first!!!

Then Jada buried Sara in the sand. I think Casey might have gone up there to help with this one!

This is me, chillin in the sun. I think Jada had the camera AGAIN!!

New Puppy Update!

2009-06-01T13:30:00.002-05:00

Okay, I know it has been FOREVER since I posted here. I actually lost the cord that connects my camera to my computer, so I was feeling very lost. Then, when I told my good friend Colleen, she came to my rescue. She suggested that I take my camera card and just insert it into the computer tower. DUHHHHH!!! Yeah, so that is what I did. Thanks Colleen for being so computer savy.

Since I ended with Copper, I will start with Copper! THis first picture was actually taken a while ago already and Copper is bigger than this already! But it gives a good indication against Jada on how fast he is growing.Here he is just two weekends ago sitting on our chair at the lake. He looks like a little old man to me! OH....he loves the water. Whenever Jada is in the tub (or anyone who'll let him in the bathroom during their bath and/or shower) he is hanging over the edge wanting to get in. He usually ends up pretty wet by the end of her bath. SO I started just telling him to jump in once I have pulled the plug. He does gladly. He just stands in the tub and I shower him down with his shampoo. He loves water so much, that when we went to my Mom's one weekend, he dove into their fish pond. Head first. Casey said it was pretty funny.

This is just another comparison picture with his teddy bear.

New Puppy write up

2009-04-15T16:34:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I posted the pictures of the puppy but totally messed up and didnt add the "speaking" to it. So here it goes.

We got the new puppy, Copper, on March 24th. WOW. That means we have had him for three weeks already. He is already bigger than those pictures, so I will try to get some more pic's taken and posted here. He is a cockapoo and will remain on the small side.

We chose to get a boy, b/c of cheaper to fix. Now, I find out this week that girls are easier to house train. So, yeah, that makes me go grrrrrr. Copper is still having the odd accident inside, but has gone to the door to go outside on his own as well. So two steps forward, one step back.

Jada and Copper have proven to become best friends. When we need him to come, we get Jada to call him. When he gets hyped and wants to play, Jada is always there to play.

New Puppy!

2009-03-27T10:40:00.001-05:00

Kittens

2009-03-17T11:02:00.002-05:00

Well, the babies where born on March 16 between 130-300am. It was a long tiring day before and the night of the birth. Her waters broke at 5pm on the 15th and continued to have labour all day and into the night. She is a sucky new mamma, and she wants me beside her the whole time. Sara was a good midwife with me. We took turns sitting with Rhyme while she was having her contractions. Sara was really hoping to see one being born, since Eric saw them last time, but it was too late to wait. Here's the babies. All four of them. Two darker black ones, and two lighter grey ones. I dont know if they are boys or girls, and they have not been named yet by the kids. Though Sara is wanting to name one Lola, and Eric is wanting Kikoshi (again).

The proud mama. She is doing so good.

Make-up

2009-03-17T10:52:00.003-05:00

Even at three, Jada knows about make-up and loves it. (I do spoil her with a bit of glittery eyeshadow once in a while).

Both girls had their pictures for skating carnival on Sunday and had to have full hair and make-up done for that. Sara did her hair in rags the night before and got some beautiful curls. Jada's costume was a puppy, so the classic pigtails worked perfect.

It was the make-up part that both girls so enjoyed. They got to use Mom's make-up and get all dolled up. Eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, (foundation for Sara). Jada looked at herself in the mirror ALL DAY. She loved it. Here is a picture of them, just before we left the house for pictures.

chocolate milk

2009-03-12T09:47:00.002-05:00

Okay so this morning is starting out a little wonky. Sometimes if we have two jugs of milk in the fridge, we will add chocolate syrup to one milk for a treat. Last night was one of these times that I made chocolate milk for the kids (okay, I really enjoy it too). But Casey & I went out last night, so we didnt get to enjoy any of it. So here is where the wonky comes in. I'm tired this morning, helping the kids get their lunches packed. I cut up strawberries for them, and thought it would be nice to have some strawberries on cereal this morning. So out comes the Special K Satisfaction (love this cereal), I add strawberries, get out the "milk" and sit at the table. The kids are watching me pour chocolate milk on my cereal. Once I am finished, Eric just says, "Uh Mom, do you know you just poured chocolate milk on your cereal?" WHAT!!!!!! So the day started out with a lot of laughs. And yes I did eat the cereal. Would I do it again? I sure hope not.

Going to a Birthday Party!

2009-03-11T12:25:00.005-05:00

Jada got invited to go to a birthday party! It was her friend Abby's 4th birthday, and she had all her little friends over. It was so exciting. I dont know who was more excited, Jada or I. We got on some nice clothes, picked out a present and card (mom made of course), and headed out the door. I stayed for the party since Jada has been having some issues with me leaving her. They planted a tiny flower pot, so hopefully we take very good care of these. They broke a pinata, and played played played. It was fun to watch all the girls together, since these are the girls that will be in kindergarten together.
So here is a picture of Jada as we are heading out the door. I know the socks dont go so well, but it was COLD that day.

Blog Candy from Barb

2009-03-10T19:14:00.002-05:00

I found this blog giving away some blog candy for stampers. SO, I dont know how to attach a link to this post, but here is the thingy http://madeforkeeps.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-candy-for-5000-hits.html if you'd like to comment for a chance to win.

HSM on Ice & S'toon

2009-03-10T12:23:00.002-05:00

WARNING: Long Post

We took the kids out of school on Thursday (Feb 26) to head to Regina to see High School Musical on Ice. It was an amazing show. THe girls were glued to the program the whole time. Sara (since she is taking figure skating this year) was amazed at some of the spins and jumps and spirals. Jada, I think, was most amazed with the music. Since we have seen the movies A LOT, and the show was based on the movies and the songs where the same, and it was done so it looked like the skaters were really singing the songs.....breathe....Jada was loving the singing. She danced and sang along with them during the show. Jada sang the songs for many days afterwards. Eric on the other hand, almost fell asleep. So comical. Heehee...poor guy. I really want to continue to take him to these things though, so he can appreciate both hockey and musical theatre (since Casey & I love them both).

The next day we headed down to Assiniboia to my Mom's. She held a Stampin Up Class, everyone made 10 cards. She had a great turnout, and half the ladies had never stamped before. So we were able to get a few more ladies hooked. THe cards were beautiful , but I forgot to take pictures of them, so you wont see them here (but you might see 2 of them at my next class here in Gull Lake on March 27th, let me know if you'd like to come)

Saturday afternoon we headed home with a stop over at Grandma Mary's for supper. This is my Mom's Mom, and she is a wonderful lady. We love her so much. And she cooks great too.

Sunday morning, we headed in opposite directions. My Mom (bless her heart for being the best Grandma ever), took all three kids to Herbert for a hockey tournament of Eric's. This proved to be a very long trying day, so we appreciate Grandma offering to do this for us. Thanks MOM!!

Casey & I headed to Saskatoon. We were going to see Annie the musical. That was an amazing show as well. The kids talent in that show was breathtaking. The acting was awesome.

Casey & I also ate at the Samuri. You sit at a C shaped table and the grill is in the middle and they cook in front of you. This was GREAT food. Normally, seeing a lot of food is hard for me (I get anxiety attacks), but this was so fun, and the food was so great, that I was fine (this doesnt happen normally with new restaurants). I'm sure this was a high light for Casey.

Casey had Roses & a fruit plate set up in the room for me when we got there, it was so romantic. We also were treated to an upgrade to a jacuzzi room. Um, that was great . . .

Casey also took me shopping for rings. We have been married for 10 years and thought it was time to treat ourselves to nice wedding rings. When we got married, we didnt have a lot of money, so we just had gotten cheap bands to get us through. Here is a pic of those for you. My band has 10 little diamonds, to symbolize 10 years for us. YEAHHHHHH!!!!
Here is a picture of us just coming back from Annie. Me wearing a dress is a rare thing, but I thought I would treat Casey to a bit of sexy. He loved it. Thanks to Sara for helping me pick it out. I also got some Lady Boots from Le Chateux. Sorry it is hard to see far away.

Yogurt

2009-03-09T10:50:00.002-05:00

This is a typical site here at our house. I know that some of you will be shreiking that our cat is on the table, but yes, she joins us for the end of breakfast to have a treat of yogurt (or the cereal milk). This is Rhyme, our pregnant cat, and he slowly creeps closer and closer to Jada as she is having yogurt. Until finally Jada shares.

As I am typing this, Rhyme is laying on my legs and I can feel her babies moving. LOVE IT!!!! Due date (by my calculations) should be sometime around March 18th. Stay tuned for pictures of the babies when they come.

Happy Birthday Eric!!!

2009-03-08T16:28:00.006-05:00

Eric has turned 11 years old!!! How did I get old enough to have an 11 year old son? Time does fly, and I am so scared that he is closer to leaving home than he is to , well, his arrival.

I know birth stories can be boring for some, but I do love to remember the day(s) that my children came, so I am going to share his arrival day with you all, if you choose to continue reading.

I woke up the morning of February 24th, after having had a rough sleep. My due date was still 10 days away, so I wasnt even thinking it could be the day. I was 18 years old, and niave. All night long, I was waking up every hour or so "to go pee". I was able to fall back asleep each time, so I am very thankful for that now. This day, I had a regular dr. checkup, but as I was trying to eat my breakfast I just didnt feel very good. I kept telling Casey that I thought maybe I had the flu again. Casey was trying to be very positive and comforting by letting me know that this was his last day of work, than he had 2 weeks off.

So, off we go to my 9am appointment. I proceeded to tell my wonderful doctort that I think I might have the flu again. (I had the flu a month or so before and ended up in hospital on IV) I told him about being up in the night "to go pee" and that I couldnt eat breakfast. He didnt even hesitate to tell me to lay on the table and he was going to 'check me'. He just smiled, and told me he would meet me in labour & delivery later today. WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I wasnt ready for the baby today!!!

I was 3 cm dilatated, and now that I knew what these stomach cramps where, I was SCARED!!!!

We quick drove home, grabbed my bag and headed to the hospital. Casey was so wonderful!! He stayed by my side the whole time, being an encourager!

Now, I dont even think the SC hospital did epidurals back then, so it wasnt even discussed with me. My options had been demoral, or nothing! I did finally agree to try demoral when I was like 7cm along, but it was the biggest mistake. It made it harder to concentrate and get through the contractions. I was very happy once this started to wear off. (HAAHAA the word happy doesnt seem right in that this point) All I remember thinking was that everyone was liers. I remember other young mom's telling me that "it wasnt so bad, just relax and let it happen." HA-HA-HA. (very sarcastically laughing) IT HURT LIKE H-LL!!! I promised myself in the heat of my pain, that every person I saw who was pregnant would sure to hear that IT HURT!!!!!!!!!!

(PROUD DADDY^)

(FIRST FAMILY PHOTO^)

10pm finally came time to push! This was a releif. It was time. 1/2 hour of pushing and he was here. 7lbs 14oz. Casey cried like a baby! He was the proudest Daddy ever to walk him down to the nursery. He was such a beautiful baby. I remember just staring at him and feeling a love that I've never felt before. It was amazing. I was meant to be a Mom! I remember taking him home and being in disbelief that they let me leave the hospital with him. That he was mine (ours) and we were responsible for this tiny little baby.

(IN THE HOSPITAL^)

I dont regret not one minute of having him. I can complain about every stretch mark he gave me (and he gave me LOTS), but then I remember that I have him, and the blessing that he has been to our family. (OKAY, teary eyes are starting so its time to stop)

(FIRST PROFESSIONAL FAMILY PHOTO^ Eric is 3 months old)

Happy Birthday Eric!

Birthday morning I asked him what he wanted for his birthday cake (since his friend party will be in April at the Hat for watersliding), this is what he asked for. Butter Pecan cake, home made apple pie, homemade noodles for supper. UMMMMM,,,,,Mama never baked no apple pie before and this is his favorite, so I DID IT!!!! Thanks to Colleen for the encouragement. I made the butter pecan cake (from a box, but I still stirred it), apple pie (thanks Mom / Grandma for freezing balls of crust in our freezer, but I still rolled it out and mixed the filling on my own.), and did homemade noodles for supper (which I really do make from scratch). So he felt special on his day, but still awaits his actual 'party'.

New Kitchen!!!

2009-02-23T10:54:00.006-06:00

The kitchen is the one area in our house that we had put off. Most of the rest of the house has been renovated...like...painted the whole house, new windows, new flooring in the livingroom, hallway and basement, new shingles, new soffit/facia/eaves/siding, porch added on....it has all been done slowly as we could save up the money and has been a really joyous experience. So this was the time to save up BIG TIME to tackle our disgusting kitchen. The cupboards were painted this bluey grey (not a nice one) with painted hardware, and grimy countertops, and wasted spaces.

(before picture)

It took Casey and I about two months to finaly come to a decision with cupboards and countertop.

So Friday evening started with ripping out the old kitchen. That actually was the scariest part for both Casey and I, but it turned out the go really smoothly. Everything came out without any problems. (Casey might want to include that I did infact put on hole in the wall with the butt end of the hammer. Other than that there was no problems.) No damage to the drywall or ceiling that some paint and sanding wont fix. Casey even let me use the hacksaw to cut off the plumbing under the sink. Yeah for me!!!We ended our Friday with a picnic on the floor with the kids. Not so healthy chips & dip, and jalepeno cheese & crackers, and grape juice. (OH!!! I really need to add that the flooring is yet to be changed. So the kitchen isnt actually all done. So when you see the nice new pic's remember the floor is not done)Here the boys have gotten the bottom cupboards all lined up and secured, and now trying to figure out the countertop. Unfortunetly we did have one little chip in the countertop that we caused, but we wont be telling anyone where it is.And DRUMROLL please.......

BOOM!!! The final kitchen. We gained four inches on both ends of the countertop and what a huge difference this made. We gained countertop space, as well as cupboard space. We also gained the new microwave which has a fan in it. New sink, and new taps (which I LOVE) I cant wait to cook my first meal in this kitchen tonight.

This is a close up of the countertop and cupboard. Not the best of pictures, so if you really want to see, you have to come over. (Phone first so I can be dressed :o)

We do have all the small things yet to complete, like painting, changing light fixtures, flooring, adding a plugin for the new microwave....does it ever end!?!

So huge hugs and loves to Casey for working so hard to provide for this big reno. He is an awesome husband.

Figure Skating Competition

2009-02-19T14:58:00.005-06:00

Figure Skating Competition on February 15, 2009 in Eastend, Saskatchewan.

Here are all the girls from Gull Lake that came. Back row - Emerson, Sara, Leah, Dakota,

and Front row is Tianna, Gina, Kayla

I've been trying to upload the video, but it wont let me. So Ihave no actual pictures of her Elements part, or of her actual program that she skated.Opening Ceremonies.

After the skating was over, they each recieved a metal and their report on how they did. Great moment for all of them.Sara standing on the podium, holding her flowers that we got to throw on the ice when her program was over. Then little boys would skate and gather them and hand them to the girls.

So proud of Sara, and I cant wait to watch her skate for more years to come. Next, practicing for her skating carnival here in Gull Lake March 22. You all are invited to come and watch.

Here Fishy Fishy

2009-02-19T14:52:00.002-06:00

Eric got a new fish a couple of weeks ago. It is one of those long bottom feeders that look like half catfish and half eel. They are creepy. (insert shuttering here) It seemed that as soon as we walked in the door, Rhyme could smell it even in the bag.

Once that fish hit the water, Rhyme spent the next couple of days watching that fish very closely. Even taking a few swats at the tank too.

Sara's 9th Birthday party

2009-02-19T12:30:00.004-06:00

So I am going way back in posts here, to end of January sometime, when we had Sara's Birthday. Now we branched out this year and tried to do something different and brave. Sara invited 7 friends over, and they had supper & cake together. They then played a small game that I had planned. I pre-froze four shirts (dunked them in water first, then froze). They broke into groups of 2 (yes Eric had to play to make teams fair). They had to see who could defrost their shirt the fastest and put it on. The only help they had was the furnace (when it did turn on). They were very creative in ways to defrost it. There was lots of giggles, and brrrring. Once the shirts done, there was some Wii playing, then we proceeded to the movie theatre.

The Tales of Despereux was playing and all the kids enjoyed the show. After the show, all the girls stayed for a sleep over. They did very well. I was expecting loud, giggling girls till way into the night, but I was able to go to sleep by 1130pm. So this was a very successful birthday party, and we would do it again.

answered prayers

2009-02-08T17:58:00.002-06:00

Oh my goodness! Has it really been since Jan 19th since I last posted. Eek! So sorry.

We have really gotten back into praying together as a family, and trying to make God our priority again. It felt so lonely and hard to be away from God, and we are so thankful that He is still here with us.

Anyway, a quick little story for today. It has been 2 weeks since we lost Eric's Nintendo DS. This has bothered me 1) b/c they are expensive and I really didnt want to dish out the cash again and 2) I know it came into this house and it is in here somewhere! So on Saturday, I finally was feeling really frantic about it, and couldnt stop looking for it. I looked everywhere. Our house has been turned up-side down and then put back again. It was no where to be found, and my heart was feeling really distressed about this. So, Casey finally said, "We need to stop this! What did we use to do in situations like this?" And Eric was quick to answer with "Pray". Yeah, we use to pray about everything, big and small. So we all stopped, Me, Casey, Eric, Sara, Jada, and Kate (my niece) and we just prayed together, that we would find it, or if it was gone that we would have peace about that too. WELL.....10 minutes.....literally.....we are in the van on the way to the movie theater and I turn on the interior light and say, lets look!!! SARA FOUND IT sticking out from under a seat. We had looked in the van several times already. God is so good. Little miracles are so great. We are so thankful that God hears us even in the small things.

Getting to know me...

2009-01-19T10:23:00.003-06:00

I saw this on a blog that I follow (not sure how to link these) and thought it is a great way to let you get to know me a little better. (as in me & I, it is Shayne here doing the thing) The idea is to copy the following list into your blog and highlight the items that pertain to you. So here goes:
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain (I wonder how far up it count to be climbed, but I have hiked in mountains)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (and thank goodness I did that day, the store was robbed, I could not have handled that)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (petted one and fed it a bottle)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (does the one in banff count)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (only on the Wii)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community (I think the hutterites might be considered here)
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter (sat in one while it was running, I chickened out and ran away)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (it was a van)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby(3)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Okay, so my life doesnt look so interesting when it was laid out this way. But it made me think of things I would like to do throughout my life. Let me know if you do one of these too.

Gold!!!!!

2009-01-13T18:43:00.002-06:00

Yup, that is what it would be if we played for actual colors. But Eric's hockey team won both games during their home tournament. They played Herbert first and Eric got a shut out (for those of you who dont know hockey, that means he saved EVERY shot.) Score was 0-9. Our boys where very excited about that. Next, they played Shaunavon. This team is a good match in skill to our team, so this makes for a very entertaining, intense game. But our boys came out on top by one. 5-6.
Eric is laying in the very middle in front. They are all holding up their metals that they got. Very proud of these boys and girls. They worked hard. (So sorry, there is three girls on the team, so I mean kids in all the sentences that contain boys. And all three girls got a goal during their first game.)

New Years Day!

2009-01-13T18:36:00.002-06:00

New Years Day we got to spend with some of my family in Shaunavon. It was nice to see all of those that made it. Especially my cousin Stephanie & her hubby Geethan and their boy Lucas. They are living in Halifax right now, so it is nice when they can make it home. A highlight again, I am sure, was a snowmobile. My cousin Dana's husband Wade pulled the kids in their sleds. The first pic here is Sara. Oh and Jada and I just enjoyed getting outside to enjoy some small hills.

Oh, Jada liked it when I pulled her and she kept telling me to go fast. Well, Mama hadnt been workin out for a while so faster was harder.

Here is Eric going for his ride. It was a fast and crazy one that he was totally beaming about afterwards.

So, that probable is all my pic's from Christmas. And I will get on to other stuff.

Miscellaneous (sp??)

2009-01-08T12:04:00.002-06:00

Here's just some pictures that are fun. Sara and Jada snuggled on the chair and watched a show over the holidays. Sara is really starting to enjoy Jada's company more and more. SHe is a great big sister and willing to play more. This makes me very happy to see them bonding. I also got a chocolate fondue set from my grandma and we were all very eager to try it out. This was a great gift, again something we can all enjoy together.

Okay, so the kitchen is officially being started. Here is the new table and chair set that we got. It finally came a couple of days ago. I have it set up the other way on the wall now, but anyway, you get the idea. It is a bar height with 8 chairs. It also has a leaf, but we dont need it in unless we are having guests. I love the table already.

We have picked out the cupboards and counter tops, so today I will be talking to the wonderful lady at Home Hardware and get those ordered. Now the next step is to find the lino to go with it all. That decision has been in the works for a year now, and seems to be hard. But now that I can measure it against some nice cupboards and countertop, maybe it will prove to be easier. Also, that tile wall behind the table will be getting a painting, and the baseboards riped off and replaced and the last of the blue trim will be turned white as well. I cant believe that we are actually able to do these reno's to a home of our own. I am loving this. Thanks Casey!!!1

Wii

2009-01-08T11:44:00.002-06:00

So the Wii turned out to be a big hit with the whole family. It's nice that we are all playing a game together, while standing and being active. This is the first gaming system that we have purchased (we did have my brothers original Nintendo for a while, and a garage sale PlayStation that Grandma Harvey bought for Eric) and I think this is a good choice.

Here Sara is teaching Jada how to bowl. She is an amazing teacher and Jada was a fast learner. The kids had me doing it too, and boy did my arms and shoulders hurt the next day. Not use to this kind of movements. Though I did beat everyone that challenged me, both at home and at Adam's house in the afternoon.

Here, Eric must have done something great, his face is sure intense.

Here Eric and Sara are boxing. Sara kicked Eric's butt two times in a row, but she did pull some muscles b/c it hurt for her to breathe for the next couple of days.

Sara bought the American Idol game with her Christmas money so we have been singing our hearts out as well. And for someone who doesnt sing on key, and is now trying to on the game, my vocal cords HURT after i'm done one song.

Santa Came!!!

2009-01-06T22:32:00.003-06:00

First I am going to back this train up a bit....and let you know what we did on Christmas Eve. I dont know why, but my camera never came with me anywhere and now I am sad about that. ANyway....

Christmas Eve we went out to Casey's Aunty Cheryl & Unlce Dennis's farm. This is where all the Harvey's convene for Christmas. We all love going out there. There are cousins of all ages to play with. Tons of food to be eaten. And card games to be played. So, we all enjoyed this evening of family time (it helped get the kids' minds off of the day going by so slooowwwwlllyyyy)

But Santa did arrive at our house. I have many pictures of the kids' faces when they saw what Santa brought. Neither of them asked for this, but man where they happy to have it. First they did go through their stockings and in them where "mock Wii controllers full of gum". This was their hint #1 but they didnt even clue in.Jada didnt get this gum. Her favoirte part of her stocking was the new Little Mermaid pj's in there. And her Webkins Reindeer. She has not let that reindeer go since she saw it. Eric & Sara helped Jada open her present from Santa first. SInce it was so big. It was a barbie house and she has so far loved it. Her face was so awesome when she first got that paper off.

Next it was Eric & Sara's turn to see what Santa brought them. We had them each open a small gift that was the extra controllers for the Wii. Then we finally let them open the actual Wii. They were so happy and excited. They couldnt believe it. They wanted to play it instantly. Sara admitted later that she got worried because all she asked Santa for was a Nintendo DS and if he had brought the Wii for them, then there was no way she was getting a DS. So once all the presents where opened (or so they thought), there seemed to be two mystery presents hidden in the back. One with a simple S and one with a simple E. Oh man, the kids almost fell over when they opened them and it was a DS for each of them. I thought Sara was going to explode.

So all in all, I think the kids had a really good Christmas morning. They did get other stuff from other people to open this morning, but these where their two highlight gifts. Thanks to Casey for working so hard before hand to provide this awesome christmas for these kids.

Tobagganing

2009-01-06T22:06:00.002-06:00

The Christmas Season came with some great snow and some warm weather. The kids and I took full advantage of this nice weather and headed out to do some sledding. This first picture is proof that I did go down the hill. Here Sara is teaching Jada all about snow angels.

Eric going down the hill.

Sara going down the hill.

These were fun times. I think this is the first year that I have owned ski pants since Eric was born. Can you believe that? I always just went in my long johns and jeans and I must have froze. So this year I spent the wopping $20 and got some ski pants. Great investment!!! I wore them quite a few times over the holidays. It was great to be able to play with the kids and be warm.

D'Oh

2008-12-27T21:14:00.002-06:00

Colleen has beaten me at changing the background on my blog. She always seems to be that one step ahead of me. One of these times I will make it before her,,,,,one day. :o)

Anyway,

Coming Soon.... Posts about Christmas!

Paper Chains!

2008-12-23T14:11:00.003-06:00

Our poor Charlie Brown tree was in need of a face lift to make me feel more festive. So out came the scrapbooking paper, paper trimmer and tape. I cut a whole bunch of strips so the kids could put together a paper chain. At first the older two were kind of reluctant, thinking I was lame. But once they saw Jada and I have fun doing it, they joined in right quick. (Notice they are all still in their jammies, AND they have eaten lunch already. Great Day)

So they made a really long chain and it actually fit around the chirstmas tree the prefect number of times. (Here they are seeing who's is the longest)

And on the tree! Ahhhh, I love it! Maybe we will do popcorn strings also (maybe next year)