She's a Charmer

I had never really looked closely at this photo and then found it tonight as I was browsing. Seriously cute.

Birthday Boy

SK Trip Report

I've been slow at scrapbooking lately. I get on the computer at night once the little family is all tucked in and I end up wasting time surfing the net and lurking on facebook. One of my little hobbies is looking up houses for sale. I've almost decided I need to give it up, it makes me unsatisfied with my own house, which is perfectly fine, and drives a weird compulsion in me to pull up roots. It all ties into my wanderlust, the feeling that the next greatest thing is just one adventure away. And maybe it is, but not for a bit so I should lay off so I don't drive myself crazy. Anway, that was a bit of a tangent. Back to the matter at hand. We've been home for about a week now from our SK trip. Had tons of fun, had some grief too, but that is always the way when travelling with small children. Really, it's a metaphor for life, can't have the joy without the pain, wouldn't know the sweet except for the bitter etc etc. So here's the top ten joys and pains of our nearly two weeks on the road. I will try to list more joys than pains in an effort to not be too big a complainer! :)
1. Loved, loved, loved the triple K (Kirsten, Karly and kids) camping (ahem, I mean cabin-ing) trip. It was so much fun. Thanks so much to Anne (the best mother in law EVER) for letting us stay there, we will definitely take you up on the offer to do this again!
2. Did not love so much the trip to the ER with Julie with what eventually turned out to be a urinary tract infection. Ugh. This poor kid has had antibiotics a lot in her first year of life. It is very frustrating. Enough sad talk though.
3. Really enjoyed the half day in Drumheller. The kids had a great time at "the dinosaur museum" and Eric was talking about it today and begged me to take him there again.
4. It was great to see Alastair. He came to Cypress with me and Anne picked him up, spent the week there and then we took him back on our way home. He and Jack had a really good time together, and it was cool to see them click. Jack worshipped Alastair and his DS, and Alastair was very happy to have a quiet attentive person to explain game nuances to. Darrel and I were impressed by Alastair's creative writing ability. The story he was recording was pretty imaginative, he has an amazing vocabulary, and reminded both of us very much of Stuart MacLean a la Vinyl Cafe, both in diction and prose.
5. Well, in Medicine Hat on our return trip home I witnessed a McDonald's play place empty out at lightning speed. The discovery of poop smeared all over the inside one section tends to do that. Crazy! I was super glad it wasn't any of my people responsible for the poop.
6. Darrel was able to get in lots of visiting during our visit. Time spent golfing, at the ranch, helping Frank and John was good for the soul.
7. Watching the lightning storm as we were driving into Drumheller. Eric was in the car with Darrel and Jack and I were really enjoying our special time together and having a lot of fun talking. As the boys get older we are having more and more real conversations and it is fun to see them figuring out the world and how things work.
8. Playing boogle with Karly, it's been a while, (since Winnipeg and our many boogle games with Dale and Tina), and I have missed it.
9. Going to the Boomtown Parade, love watching my kids at parades, it's hard not to be happy when you see such unbridled joy.
10. Being with family and being loved and seeing my kids loved. Eric cried as we left Shaunavon, "I don't want to leave Nan!" Indeed.

The Little Lady Having a Great Time at YW Camp

Julie was awesome at camp. She was adored by all the girls and had a lot of fun climbing a mountain with me, going to the beach and getting to eat licorice on the way there and back. She missed out on some of the campfire games but was one of the earliest risers. She and Spencer Skinner, our backup priesthood leader at camp and 9 days younger than the little lady, beat the YW out of bed every morning. ;) It was super hot on Thursday when we arrived so after setting up camp and doing the theme introduction we headed to Blue Lake to enjoy some swimming and sun bathing. Julie managed to attract this little butterfly, and he stuck by her until she tried to eat him. It was pretty funny.

Book Review: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

It's late, I don't have enough brain power to write a coherent review. But it's good, I have loved reading it, and you will too. I've listened to the audio book version and it's been delightfully read by a British fellow, which only adds to the experience. Wickedly funny in parts but also deep and moving and human. An awesome summer read.

Ward BBQ

This year our ward decided to have a picnic/BBQ rather than a camp out -and it was awesome. I think more people came because they didn't feel bad slinking off after supper to go home and sleep in their beds.
Food was plentiful and our activities committee chairwoman (really she's a one woman show) had awesome games for the kids. These aren't the worlds greatest photos but c'est la vie.

Julie sporting some of the prize bling she filched from one of my young women.

Jack, with one of his prizes. He can't even be bothered to look at me, he's too intent on figuring out this car.

Eric, running at the sound of the dinner bell.

Jack playing "Ring Around the Nosey", what a hoot!

Best Garage Sale Find Ever

Darrel, the garage sale-ing king, got this little beauty for free a couple of weekends ago. The previous owners cut the legs down, which is fantastic, no worries about kids killing themselves by flying over the edge. Not so great if you are older than about 8, but it works for us. The boys are having sooooo much fun. Jack's face in the second photo is priceless, it was a sneeze, not a failed landing and pain, just in case you were wondering.