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Our 2011 Christmas

2011-12-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas begins with the greatest decoration suggestion of all time. At least for me that is. Look closely and you will see what I mean! Who knows what the garland will look like next year but it doesnt't matter. I will worry about that later!

Every year as far back as we can all remember, we have always had finger foods for our Christmas Eve dinner (although this year we had our dinner the day before Christmas Eve). It's always a favorite! Here is Chris making Jalapeno Poppers from PW's (Pioneer Woman) cookbook. They turned out spectacular!

Here is our spread. We also made stuffed mushroom caps, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, barbequed beef tenderloin and then had our usual crackers, meat, cheeses, shrimp, vegertables and a fun drink. The last few years we have had coca cola in ornament shaped bottles.

On Christmas Eve we drove to Lee lee's house for a Ham dinner and games. This round of the game "Pounce" was for mothers and sons.

Chris lounging......that's part of Christmas isn't it? It sure is! Actually if truth be told......he had just woken up from a little snooze.

For dessert Lee Lee had made chocolate haupia pie. It never disappoints! See that fork? That's a fork from waaayyyyyyy back. Like forever! I love a good memory!

This is Christmas morning. Every year we wake the kids up and they have to wait for everyone else to be ready before we let them downstairs to see what Santa brought. This is typical Caleb. Not quite ready for the festivities but always has his duvet with him.

This is the very first gift we opened this year. It was the gift from Sean and his girlfriend Andrea. They had made 3 types of seasoned nuts and they were delicious!

Caleb opening up the gift from the Cahoon's. They gave us jars of Lee Lee's homemade Utah peaches and salsa. Talk about more delicious!

Kelly gave me this infinity scarf!

Caleb gave me this book!

Chris gave me these boots!

And here are our cinnamon rolls! This goes back even further than that fork you saw in the above picture. This tradition goes back generations. The recipe may change from year to year but Cinnamon Rolls Christmas morning doesn't! I don't dare not make them.

Since moving here to Southern Alberta we have started another tradition. We drive down to Great Falls, Montana on Boxing Day to go shopping. We give the kids a chunk of U.S. money and they get to spend it however they want! This year sadly it was only Seth who was able to come but we managed to have a great time anyway. The reason for this not so Christmasy picture is to show that the Coutts border actually had 3 lines open for us Canadians crossing the border. They usually only have one line open and you have to wait for a long time!!

We went to Cafe Rio for the first time and it was pretty darn good!

Seth had bought himself a nice sweater at Ross. He looks very sharp with his new hat and new glasses don't ya think?

After a day shopping we ate at this Asian Noodle Bowl place down the road from our hotel.

The next day before heading home we stopped at Sonic for lunch which like Cafe Rio we had never eaten there before either. Thier milkshakes were unbelievable. The creamiest one I have ever had!

And.....well.....after all that yummy food we had in Great Falls and all the yummy chocolate I got for Christmas this is what I will be doing for awhile.

But how can you say "no" to this right? Santa brings this box of chocolates to our family every year.

We had a great Christmas and missed only one thing. Sean. Hopefully next year will be different because it's been 4 too many years without him!

My "little boy" is 17!

2011-11-07T15:44:00.000-08:00

The tradition in this is house when it comes to birthdays is that the birthday guy or gal gets to choose whether they want me, the mom to make whatever they want for dinner or pick a restaurant of their choice. This is Seth's day so this is what he chose!

HIs favorite place to eat out is Montana's. He loves it here because of the ribs.

The birthday boy!

Seth had drawn a riddle on the table and so this is Caleb and Chris trying to figure it out. I kind of think it was an impossible riddle but later Caleb re-drew it to see if he could solve it. I think he did. Caleb can figure just about everything out like that.

This is the rib dinner. It did not disapoint let me tell ya! Seth couldnt finish it all so he ate the rest for lunch the next day. That was actually the plan.

Kelly wasn't able to join us this year.

And to end the evening off right....we came home to this chocolate cake. Our waiter at Montana's asked us if we wanted dessert and I told him that we had a homemade chocolate cake waiting for us and I am pretty sure he was a little envious.

The Busy Month Of October!

2011-10-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

October is always a busy month for us and this year was no exception. Birthdays, Thanksgiving and a Visit!!

The month begins with Chris' birthday. The chocolate cake that you see is a standard at EVERY birthday in this house. Only the decorations and ages change of course. Seth decorated the cake this year. The meal that Chris requested his birthday was Chicken Enchaladas, Mexican Corn, Tortilla chips with Guacamole & Herdez Salsa and Mango juice.

Here in Canada, Thanksgiving is always on the second Monday of October. Usually the day after Chris' birthday. Kelly set the table this year and did a magnificent job with paper plates from Walmart! (our good china is still packed away somewhere in boxes in our garage) Lee Lee's family joins us every year for Canadian Thanksgiving and then we join them for American Thanksgiving.

Just a candid shot of some of the preparations. The turkey was perfect this year! Last year it was a little pink on the inside.

Just me doing my thing....."Nanny's Potatoes" are in that pot!

Neal, Kelly, Laurel and Seth waiting very patiently. Not quite sure what the look on Seth's face could be.....seems each one has something different on thier minds. Kind of funny isn't it? Oh, and Caleb did join us for the meal but he kind of makes himself scarce until just before the food is on the table.

Here is Lee Lee preparing part of her part of the meal. The whip cream for the pumpkin pies she brought!

Once again my father drove aaaaaaalllll the way up from St. George to visit us! He drives 12 hours to his sister's house in Bozeman, Montana and then a day or two later drives another 7 or so hours up here. Here we are at the Cardston Temple.

I stayed overnight at Lee Lee's house one night while daddy was staying there because he LOVES to see us together. He says it's like time goes back to when we were teenagers. Guess he is right because here we are acting like teenagers making a blanket for our sister Susie for Christmas. We can be a little silly ......but only sometimes!

The next day we drove to Waterton for lunch and this is just some of the great scenery we saw. The day was perfect. This was taken just as you enter the park off to the right (for those who may be familiar with Waterton).

I am really disappointed at the blurryness (if you click on the picture to enlarge it) of this picture but decided to add it anyway. I had the camera sitting on a fence with the timer. Anyway, the gal you may or may not recognize in this picture is Dixie, a good friend of both our families.

On our way back to Lee Lee's we stopped so I could get a picture of myself with this Bull. For some reason, this past year I have decided that I am really enjoying the look of a Bull and perhaps one day I may even own my very own! But a real one of course.

Also on the way back we saw this! Random you say? Not so much in this part of Alberta. It is just the coolest thing to see in "real life".

And the last of the celebrations for the month of October. Kelly's 22nd birthday. I don't have a picture of her chocolate cake but this year she wanted it decorated with big pink flowers. So big pink flowers and 22 pink candles it was! The meal she requested was Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Fresh Green Beans, Steamed Broccoli and Mango Lemonade. PS. The boy at her side is her boyfriend, Kyle and Caleb was in the shower at the time of this photo.

PS. Seth's 17th Birthday is on November 2nd so be on the lookout for another post!

The Story Of This Gun........(in my father's words)

2011-09-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

"The gun, a Model "Remington Nylon 66" came out in the '60s. The "66" was a designation for the nylon used in the stock. I bought it for $39.95, which in today's money would be about $400. Inflation, you know. There was a magazine article about a shooter who set a record by using the same model gun to hit 10,000 small blocks of wood thrown into the air. That convinced me ".

"The case is a Christmas present I gave your Mother in about 1956-7 for her to use with her .22. A remington 513 (I think). We had a contest to see who could wrap the presents the best. I included an aspirin tin with a couple of B-Bs to confuse her when she shook the gift. I won the contest that year".

"Enjoy".

This gun and case is now ours to use. I am so glad that I know the story behind it because now it isn't just some gun that we bought somewhere. If only guns could talk because my parents have lived in many different places! And..... if you could smell the case you would know it must have many stories to tell because it smells old and familiar!

Thank you Daddy for letting us take care of it now!

We Love Regina!

2011-09-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

Chris had a conference to attend in Regina last week and asked if I would like to go and I said, "of course I want to go"! We were there for 5 glorious days and enjoyed every single minute of it. I shopped, we visited good friends and we both just enjoyed being back "home" again for awhile.

Years ago the Mayor of Regina really wanted to get Reginans excited about living there so he came up with a program. There were t-shirts, posters, pins, tags and a bunch of other stuff made and this is where my tag has been for many years. On my backpack. I use this whenever I travel anywhere because I Love Regina!

PS The little lady bug buttons on my backpack were one of my mothers favorite things.

Now this place is a true landmark in Regina. It's on Victoria Avenue and it's very popular! It's been there for as long as Chris can remember. It's only open for maybe 6 months of the year but everyone who is anyone knows the best ice cream in Regina is at the Milky Way. (This picture was taken at 8am in the morning so that's why there isn't a line up around the building.)

This picture was taken while driving down Albert Street. Again, it's early in the morning so it's pretty quiet. Albert Street runs North-South and divides the city right down the middle. It's lined with trees as you head south. All along the right side of the street are most of the historic homes in the city.

This road is called Gordon Road and it runs East-West. We lived down this road about 1/4 mile and to the left. I have driven this road hundreds of times in the 18 years we lived in Regina. This is another road that has huge trees and is so pretty in the summer. There is nothing like Regina in the summer months! The very last tree you see way down at the end of the road used to be the edge of the city but right beyond that is now developed into houses and a shopping center. It just isn't he same anymore.

Okay, now this was a real treat for me. Room service! I felt very spoiled and enjoyed every bite. Yogurt and granola with fresh fruit. Our room was pretty sweet too because we had a corner room on the 24th floor. Seeing the view of the city from that high was really fun. We of course were right downtown so we were able to see 3 of the buildings that Chris built years ago.

This place is not in Regina. It's in Medicine Hat, Alberta but we stopped there on our way to and from Regina because a friend of Chris' from the College raved about it. And now we know why. It has probably 40 different flavors of milkshakes with one of them being called "I don't know". I asked the lady at the window what the flavor was and she said, "I don't know, but that boy over there just ordered one so you can ask him". So I did. He said, "well, it kind of tastes like grape (pause) and kind of like mint". I think I will have to try that the next time we drive thru.

This is just a typical picture of the prairies that you see for kilometers and kilometers and kilometers. It's so nice though because you can see forever and forever and forever!

And this is what we came home to. Everytime Chris and I go somewhere we are always greeted with fresh flowers from Kelly!

Summer Snaps!

2011-09-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

I thought I would do a post on random things about this summer. These pictures are not in any particular order because how could I possibly choose just one favorite snap of the summer of 2011?

This bunny appeared in our yard every so often throughout the summer. Guess he liked the clover in our grass!

I guess if someone was to ask me which of these pictures was my favorite I would have to go with this one. I love this Maui Babe sun lotion. I get so brown! Love it.

This is the river that Kelly and I floated down a few times. Really, really fun and relaxing. We float under Whoop-Up (in another picture below) and also the train bridge which just had it's 100th birthday and is still used today.

Every year the town of Cardston hosts the Mini Chuck Wagon Races. They are alot of fun to watch and can get pretty exciting!

These are the huckleberries that I picked at the huckleberry festival last month. I made a crisp with them and it was delicious!

This is Whoop-Up. This road divides Lethbridge from the west side which is where we live so we drive this road alot. At the bottom is a bridge and that is where Kelly I float under. The river is down in the coulies.

These are some of the strawberries I picked and made jam out of for the winter months.

Okay. If someone was to ask me what my second favorite thing about summer was I would have to say the sunroof in my car!

This is the map of Alberta. The 4 pennies are placed on certain cities. From the bottom: Lethbridge. Calgary. Edmonton. Fort McMurray. Caleb drove waayyyyy up north to Fort mcMurray this summer to install alarm systems for Vivint. He also worked in Winnepeg, Regina and Red Deer. I asked him yesterday if he minded all the driving and he said, "no, I am used to it from all the road trips we took growing up". :)

I took this picture from the car on our way to Calgary. Don't you just love a good summer storm? I have got to say though that the summer storms in Saskatchewan beat the summer storms here by a long shot.

This picture is hard to know what you are looking at. You will have to click on it so you can see it better. But set back into the coulies is the University of Lethbidge which is where Chris started working at the beginning of June.

New favorite CD of the summer. It seems to be "very California" to me.

I am very excited about these blueberry bushes that we planted in our yard. I have blueberries almost every morning on my cereal. Can't wait to have fresh ones next summer!

We have a VERY wet corner in our backyard that kills everything we plant. So Chris thought it would be really neat to plant some cat tails there. Early one morning we drove to a spot not too far from our home and dug some up out of the ditch. They are thriving!

This is a picture of the "beach" we go to so I can use my Maui Babe. It's called Park Lake and is only about 10 minutes from our house.

This picture has nothing to do with summer. Not really. It is something I am going to have fun with since Fall is right around the corner. Beatles Rock Band! Boo ya!

Twenty-Four Hours Of Fun!

2011-08-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

Because Lee Lee and I haven't done much together this summer, we decided that this was the weekend for us! So I drove out to her place late Friday afternoon to spend the night and this is what we did.

First of all Mark, Lee Lee and I went to the creek at "just before dusk". I gotta say that it was a little nerve racking because just the evening before Lee Lee had spotted some bear tracks. But I had my trusty bear bell and a stick so I felt fine. Sort of.

Here I am with my stick and Mark's oversized water shoes over my slippers (thongs, flip flops or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods).

When Lee Lee and Mark go to the creek, he goes fishing and she takes pictures.

Yah, I know. A face shot. But they are so fun to take right?

The next morning we drove out to the ski hill to pick huckleberries! They have a festival there every year with crafts, Bbq, silent auction, live music and of course berry picking! You pay $10.00 for a ride up to the top of the mountain on the chair lift and then away you go with your buckets.

Yep. Another face shot on our way up to the mountain. You just gotta do it.

If you click on this picture you can see Lee Lee picking away. She is in the yellow t-shirt. Look at that scenery!

Here I am picking my huckleberries and loving every minute of it. The weather was perfectly sunny and hot with a breeze.

Lee Lee picking her huckleberries. She didn't end up with quite as much as I did however. She sort of lost her balance coming down off the side of the mountain. Oops! But we picked up as many as we could out of the dirt and rocks. Those little berries are worth it!

I took this picture as we were waiting in line to take the chair lift back down the mountain. It's where we had just finished picking. Quite steep. Especially when you are bending down looking for huckleberries. We both got about 3 cups give (me) or take (Lee Lee). Hopefully next year will be a better year for huckleberries because we are definetly going back!

Vancouver Island - Part 2

2011-08-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

After we sadly left Sean in Victoria we travelled up the coast to Nanaimo to visit my good friend Jo-Ann who moved there from Regina almost 9 years ago. I had visited her there 2 1/2 years ago so I knew we were in for a good time! We were not disappointed although I am a little disappointed that I didnt take more pictures of the beaches because that is one of my favorite things to do there.

On our way to Nanaimo we saw this tree which is called an Arbutus tree. It's quite picturesque. You are'nt suppose to cut them down or anything but on the way home while we were driving out of Vancouver I am pretty sure I saw a huge branch attached to the back of a trailer amongst some bikes!

On our way to Nanaimo we also stopped for a few minutes to take in some of the scenery. Just so pretty!

This is Jo-Ann. We lived down the street from each other and we met because of our kids. I would call Jo-Ann and tell her that Caleb was walking out the door and as I watched him walk down the street Jo-Ann kept her eyes open for him. Caleb would play with her son Trevor and when it was time for Caleb to come home, she would call me and we would do the same thing again. Caleb and Trevor were only about 3 years old. Maybe 4.

Now, I know this is an odd picture but it's really pretty cool. What you are looking at is seaweed and some shells we found on the beach. The cool thing about this seaweed is that once it is dried you can then use it as a natural exfoliator for your skin. It's super cool when you first use it because it smells just like the ocean!

After walking along the beach after dinner Chris took this picture of the full moon. He was testing out the "night mode" option on the camera for the first time and this happened. A heart shaped moon!

The next day Brad (her husband) and Jo-Ann took us to Cathedral Grove and man was it neat!

Here is Seth and I inside one of the tree trunks. Cool eh?

Seth is pretending that he is King Of The Forrest. You can't really see it much but he was sitting on a tree trunk that looked like a throne.

Here is Jo-Ann and I standing (duh!) in front of an 800 year old tree!! Can you even get your head around the thought of looking at a 800 year old tree?
It's pretty wild to think about.

After Cathedral Grove we drove to Parksville Beach where they had a sand building competition but why I did'nt take any pictures I'll never know. There were about a dozen or so that you could vote on to pick the crowd favorite. Anyway, after walking around there we walked down to the beach. It's very cool when the tide is out because you can walk out "forever". That's Brad. Jo-Ann's husband. He was nice enough to take the day off of work to show us around.

Now this is cool! You are looking at a peach tree in Brad and Jo-Ann's backyard. But what's neat about this peach tree is that is is flat. Flat right up against the back of the house!

On our drive back home we had a flat tire. I went and bought treats at the gas station store while Chris and Seth did all the dirty work.

Like I mentioned in the Vancouver Island Part 1 post, we weren't able to find an open camp ground but we did on the way home. We stayed just outside of a little place called Golden. The view behind us was nice but our "neighbors" kept me up until 2:30am. As I was laying there feeling mad I wished I had taken a picture of the full moon outside the tent door because boy, was it pretty.

That concludes one of the best vacations ever! Thank you so much Brad and Jo-Ann for showing us around and feeding us outstanding food! Another great time!

Vancouver Island - Part 1

2011-08-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

WARNING......lots of pictures!

Chris, Seth and I just returned from a great trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Our main purpose was to visit Sean but as an added bonus we also visited my good friend Jo-Ann in Nanaimo. Our visit to Nanaimo will be Part 2 of our vacation.....coming soon.

We decided to drive a different route so we could see country that we hadn't seen before. So we drove down thru the states and took the Ferry at Anacortes, Washington over to Victoria. Our first day of driving was a long 14 hour day (no open campgrounds so we just kept on driving...and driving...and driving until we were all too tired and stopped at the Dutch Cup Motel) so the next day was quite nice and MUCH shorter.

First tourist stop. There are lots of trees in Washington!

We got to the Ferry early and much to our surprise there was a really great festival going on so we walked around there for a couple of hours looking at all the great arts and crafts, entertainment and food. Although my salmon burger did not match at all the salmon burger I had in Tofino B.C. with Sean and Kelly over 2 1/2 years ago.

We also walked around the Pier as Chris dreamed and dreamed about one day owning a sail boat.

Here we are on the Ferry. Seth never wanted to look at the camera but the man in the orange shirt was sure looking at something! (click to enlarge the picture because it's funny)

Chris on the Ferry and Seth still not looking at the camera!

"I spy with my little eye"......Seth. Can you see him in that crowd below? He hung out there as the Ferry docked in Victoria.

The night we arrived in Victoria Sean called us not more than 5 minutes after we arrived at our hotel room and asked, "have you eaten yet"? We said, "nope". And he said, "good. Come on over because I am making stir fry for all of us"! So off we went and enjoyed a home cooked meal that was most excellent! After dinner we gave Sean his birthday gifts and so here he is opening the card and gifts that Kelly gave him.

The next morning Sean and Andrea (Sean's girlfriend) took us to Floyds for breakfast. How can you beat french toast with saute'd banana's, sugared pecan clusters and toffee sauce? You cant!

Sean and Andrea both had to work so we went sightseeing and walked around Beacon Hill Park for a couple of hours but we didn't see the Peacocks walking around like we had heard about.

Another shot of what Beacon Hill Park has to offer.

It seems I took a lot of "together" pictures becuase well........we arent together very often. Here is Sean and Seth trying out the drums at Long and McQuade.

Sean with his DJ equipment. He has found a new interest that he really enjoys and even makes money at. Can't beat a hobby like that!

Seth was enjoying Sean's equipment too!

Another "together" picture. I love it. But I loved having Sean sit next to me even more!

We all went to the Shaw Aquarium in Sidney one morning. It was a nice time to be together. Oh, there is that word again! Together.

Just looking at all the interesting creatures.......

.....like the Jelly Fish and......

....the Octopus which was our favorite creature of all.

Chris and Sean. A really great father/son picture if I do say so myself.

Outside the Aquarium.

We went back to Victoria and ate at a place called Red Fish Blue Fish. You wait in line for at least 45 minutes on any given day and it's worth it.

We ordered a side dish of deep fried pickles to share and boy were they good.

Now this lovely dessert was alomost to die for! Sean and Andrea found this Gellato place downtown and once I saw this frozen cheesecake on a stick that was it. I had to have it! And wow was it good!!

Andrea suggested we take a drive up Mt. Doug. (Douglas Park) for a little hike. Once at the top you can see all of Victoria.

A shot of our partial family. It sure would have been perfect to have Kelly and Caleb with us.

Last picture. I promise. On our last night in Victoria we went to a Japanese Restaurant and sat inside one of the private rooms where you sit on the floor. It was so fun and yummy.
We had so much fun food while we were in Victoria that it became a highlight for us...especially me I think.

This trip was one of the greatest trips. We saw and did things we had never done before but the very best part was seeing Sean after 2 years. Sean is doing well and we enjoyed meeting Andrea. We hope that it won't be another 2 years before we see him again!

The Badlands of Alberta

2011-07-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Last Monday we took a little day trip to Drumheller to visit The Royal Tyrrell Museum. It is the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to palaeontology and has one of the largest collections of dinosaur skeletons in the world.

The Canadian Badlands covers a broad swath of southern and eastern Alberta.

We are almost to Drumheller. The landscape is beginning to change.

Eons of compressed sea deposits have been carved by glaciation and subsequent erosion. That process is what made the Badlands. The dark layer you can see is coal. Besides dinosaurs, the town also had a large coal mine. Further down you will see other pictures of what else the Badlands have to offer.

I took this picture of the gas station to show you the dinosaurs. These dinosaurs are everywhere in the town of Drumheller. I even saw a blue Longneck with painted daisy's on it at a bus stop.

This is the visitors center. That was one huge Dino! It's the largest Dino in the world and stands 86 feet tall. If you paid you could walk up inside of it.

Here is the museum. Interesting how they built it into the landscape.

Kelly and Seth on our way in to the museum.

Seth! Open your eyes! Oh, well.

We were trying to make it look like T-Rex was eating Seth's head. We will have to try that little trick another time.

Here I am sitting in front of a Longneck. Remember those dinosaurs from the movie The Land Before Time? My kids loved that movie and so did I!

Here is a Stegasauras.

And here is a Mammoth. Crazy tusks eh? Look at that little dinosaur ready to jump on it's back.

Outside of the museum we took a walk around to see where some of these dinosaurs were unearthed.

Look at Kelly walking along......ahead of everyone. She was really motoring.

We left the museum and headed to another area of the Badlands. The next 3 pictures are of the Hoodoos which were also formed from erosion and took millions of years!

Now aren't those the neatest things you have ever seen? They are a site to see!

And here is Kelly and Seth zonked out on the drive back home. They don't even know that this picture exists. Ha!

24 on the 24th

2011-07-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Sean's birthday! I learned last year that when the age you are turning is the same number as the day you were born it's called your Golden Birthday. So this year is Sean's Golden Birthday.

Sean was an easy and fun baby. He came right on his due date, he slept thru the night at 2 months, he found his hand for the first time on the way home from church (he held it up in front of his face and was just staring at it like he had discovered something...I can still see that moment in my mind), and the first color he learned was the color blue in a friends backyard and I remember being so proud.
Sean has always had a happy dispostion and still does. He tends to be a positive person and up for just about anything. He is talented, patient, clever, witty and thoughtful.

Here's a snap shot of Sean through the last 24 years. Some of the pictures are pretty small but it's the best I could do.

Pictou, Nova Scotia

Westville, Nova Scotia
Sean was very intrigued with the lobsters that we were just about to cook and eat! He wanted us to take the rubber bands off of their claws. He had on my favorite Ernie slippers.

Fishing in Montana.

First hunt in Saskatchewan.

At a friends farm and that chicken is just about to take it's last breath!

Grade 10 picture. I love this picture of him!

One of Sean's favorite past times. Paintballing.

Victoria, British Columbia

Sean built this fort/tree house with scrap wood in Tofino, B.C..

Here is Sean and his girlfriend overlooking a beach in Tofino. Isn't this a great shot?

I love you Sean!
Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Lee Lee!!

2011-06-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

The bestest sister a sister could have. An hour away is pretty darn good but across the street would be great! But could Mark and Chris take it? Probably.

2nd Annual Gopher Contest

2011-06-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time of year again and I had been waiting for this very day since the last gopher contest last Spring. The gopher contest is hosted by the Game and Wildlife Federation. Last year it was just Lee Lee and I but this year Dixie joined us. The rule is that if you have 3 on a team then only 2 of you can shoot at any one time and the 3rd person is the runner. Running to get the tails. At the end of the contest it's the amount of tails you collect that determines the winner!

This is where you register. It's $20.00 per team.

Here I am getting ready. The bucket contains the scissors (for cutting the tails), a hook (for grabbing those gophers that after being shot go back into thier holes), extra ammo and snacks.

And away I go!

The pouch is for holding extra ammo and my second clip. Not a hair clip. A clip that holds 10 rounds of bullets. See the gopher tail in that baggie? I know. Sweet!

Here are Dixie and Lee Lee. Lots of gophers around but once you get out in the field they seem to disappear!

We decide to try a different field.

Off to yet another field. We actually had some good luck along this road.

As we were going to another piece of land we saw a friend jogging along the gravel road who graciously took our picture. She thought we were hillarious in our matching t-shirts! We are a team and teams need to look like a team right?

We were a little disappointed in the amount of tails we got but it really doesn't matter because gosh, it's alot of fun! And....there is always next year!

This is the prize table back at the place where we registered. See the bags of tails? The winning bag had 147 I think. We "The Gopher Girls" had only gotten 22 tails but they upped our number to 29. That was nice. Last year we came in 8th out of 12 teams. But this year there were only 7 teams and........we came in dead last.

But as you can see. We are still happy.

As we were leaving a guy came up to us and offered us a consolation prize. A free lunch at Subway! Sure! Turns out he was the owner of Subway. Thank you Lane.

Until next year.....and many thanks to Dixie for supplying the land!!

In Memory Of Our Suburban

2011-06-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

1997-2011

Our Suburban is gone. We bought this suburban in the Spring of 1997 when we lived in Regina. It replaced our old blue government issued (it beeped when you backed up but we disabled that lovely distraction the day we brought it home!) one that we had bought the year Seth was born (1994) just days before giving birth (November 2). In fact the first time we drove that old suburban was to our friends Halloween party. I was Little Red Riding Hood and Chris was Forrest Gump. Anyway....back to the story of our suburban (above). The one that left us today.

This subruban served us well. Very well in fact. It took us to California to visit my sister and her family more than once, Montana to visit my parents when they lived in Lincoln, ski trips to Montana, Utah to visit my parents when they later moved to St. George, Las Vegas for my parents 50th wedding anniversary, our move to Alberta, to New Brunswick to visit Chris' family, many trips to the lake, school field trips, church, errands, gopher hunting, Friday night date nights, friends cottage, camping trips and many other places over the last 14 years that we owned it.

I loved driving it. I felt safe. It had 4 wheel drive so I knew I would never ever get stuck anywhere. And I didn't. It was no fun scraping the snow off the windows though in winter. See the flower decals on the back window? They have been scraped off by winter. Lee Lee bought those decals in Hawaii for me a long time ago. I hope the man who bought our suburban will enjoy our truck as much as we did.

Bye "my favorite truck ever"!

P.S.
See the picture below? It really isn't that red in real life. The sun must have been bright that day. Anyway, see the steering wheel cover? It's brown and doesn't match at all. But I love it. I love it because Caleb gave it to me. He gave it to me one year for Christmas when he was little. He bought it at the dollar store for a buck. I will miss that too. I know...silly.

Out with the OLD and in with the NEW!

2011-05-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

On June 3, 2011 Chris will be leaving his job at Lethbridge College where he has been working for the last 3 years and on June 6 will start his new job at the University of Lethbridge.

I tried to link the announcement from the University web page but wasn't able to do it so I just "copied" the article. Have a read below!

Christopher (Chris) Eagan, P.Eng., New Executive Director, Facilities
May 11, 2011
As a result of an extensive search process, The University of Lethbridge has selected Christopher (Chris) Eagan, P.Eng., as the new Executive Director of Facilities. Eagan follows Doug Parker, who is retiring after almost 30 years of service to the U of L.

Eagan was most recently the Director of Facilities Management at Lethbridge College, and in that role was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the facilities, utilities, grounds and other components of the College's campus infrastructure, worked with cross-campus teams to implement several capital planning projects, as well as the development of a campus master plan, among other duties.

“We are very pleased to have Chris join our team,” said Nancy Walker, the U of L’s Vice-President (Finance & Administration).

“He not only has a significant amount of experience planning and managing major projects, and of facilities operations of a large institution, but he is already familiar with our community, and understands the needs of our University as we move forward with future expansion and keeping our facilities and services in top shape.”

Eagan came to Lethbridge in 2008 from the University of Regina, where he was the Director of Planning, Design & Construction – Physical Plant, and led the campus master planning and major capital project identification/development process, as well as the design and implementation of major infrastructure projects, including nine major expansion and upgrade building projects on campus.

Two significant projects that Chris was responsible for at the University of Regina were the design and construction of a science research facility and student residences.

Additionally, Eagan has significant national experience in the construction industry as a project manager for the Saskatchewan Government Insurance Corp., Graham Construction, Mitchell Kime Thompson, Cochrane-Lavalin, and Sobeys – managing the construction of everything from grocery stores to large theatres, research facilities and major office towers.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree from Dalhousie University, a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) designation and, during his nearly 30 years in the engineering and construction profession, has received numerous awards for his project management skills, including a Quality and Productivity Award from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO) and other organizations.

Back in the day.....

2011-05-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

Back in 1977 when my family lived in Hawaii my mother put me and my sister into the Barbizon School of Modeling. We ended up being hired for a couple of commercials. Print ads were more like it.

The first one was for Coca Cola. Now that was an interesting experience! First off we went to a Hotel room where we tried on a bunch of bathing suits (bikinis....what were we thinking!) for the Japanese men who were making the commercial. It went something like this: We came out of the bathroom in a bikini, stood there and then they spoke in Japanese. Back in the bathroom for another bikini until they made their final decision. Ugh. Once that was done we went out for the rest of the day to several different locations for some picture taking. We rode Vespas in Kahala, posed next to a phone booth at the Ala Moana pier and sailed on a boat. Did you know that they spray the coke bottles with water to make them look ice cold?
We never saw the ad and had heard that the pictures were never used. Who knows.

The second one was for the Kodak Colorburst 100 Camera. This was fun. We met at the top of Tantalus Drive over looking Honolulu and stood next to Dick Van Dyke. They bought us matching outfits at J.C. Penny's, put our hair in pony tails with purple ribbons and then we blew big bubbles with Double Bubble bubble gum. After awhile we then got into our Datsun 240Z and (followed Dick Van Dyke who was driving in a limo) drove down thru Waikiki to Kapiolani Park for more pictures. We made $100 for 3 hours of work and the only thing we got to keep were the purple ribbons in our hair which I still have to this day.
If you click on the link below you will see the ad. This ad was actually used and was featured in People, Good Housekeeping, Sunset, Glamour, Time and Seventeen magazines. Very exciting for 2 seventeen year old girls wouldn't ya say?
http://store.valueweb.com/servlet/vintagepaperads/-strse-8039/1978-Kodak-Colorburst-100/Detail

Hardwood Floors

2011-04-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house about 2 1/2 years ago there had been no updating in all it's 10 years. Now that it's going onto it's 13th year we thought it was time to make some much needed changes. We have already done some painting on the inside as well as painting the deck and the trim on the outside of the house. We also put in shower doors in the main bathrooms. Now on to the floors. We have replaced the carpet in the LR and DR with Hickory hardwood. Because we have oak trim through out the house and we didn't want to go to all the trouble of changing it we had to find some wood that would work with it and we did! It looks even better than we imagined it would. Our next project will be tiling the rest of the main floor. Chris will be starting that soon.

Now on to some pictures...

Rolling up the tired carpet in the LR.

We hung plastic in the entrances to the rooms so we could keep most of the saw dust in one place. This is the DR. See the curve at the top of the flooring? That was the original shape of the carpet. We took that out and now just have a straight line. Much better.

Chris is finishing up. At this point we weren't sure we had enough boards left. It would have been a very long drive back down to Montana for 2 extra boards!

I am nailing the very last nail into the very last board!

LR before

   LR after
   (see the tile in the bottom right? That is the tile we will be putting down shortly)

This is the DR. We don't use it as a proper DR though. We call it our reading/music room. The second guitar needs to be hung and the bookshelves need to be put back in. But you get the idea!

We are so happy with the results. In the future we may add an area rug or two but for now we love it just the way it is!

Caleb

2011-04-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

On Good Friday Caleb drove off to a new experience. He will be living in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the next 4 months installing alarm systems with Vivint formerly known as Apex.

Packing up his car.....

Ready to go.....

And..... he's gone.

We know that this will be a great experience for him and know that he will learn alot. This is the first time living away from home with all the descions his own. He will be living in an exectutive suite (with 2 other guys) which includes a cleaning service once a week, free food upon arrival, a TV in every room and a free gym membership to a place down the road. Umm...can I come too? Work hard Caleb and we will see you when you get home!

Our Anniversary By The Numbers

2011-04-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

28 years ago Chris and I met in Drayton Valley, Alberta.

26 years ago today we were married in Laie, Hawaii.

23 years ago Sean was born in Westville, Nova Scotia.

21 years ago Kelly was also born in Westville, Nova Scotia.

19 years ago Caleb was born in Regina, Saskatchewan.

16 years ago Seth was also born in Regina, Saskatchewan.

7 is the number of towns/cities we have lived in.

3 is the number of Provinces we have lived in.

1 is the number of States we have lived in.

One very happy couple indeed!

Kelly and BYU-I

2011-04-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

We drove Kelly down to Rexburg, Idaho last Friday to attend BYU-I for a semester. She is on the Winter track (Jan-July) but missed the first semester so this will be a short short "year" for her. She was so happy to be returning after 2 1/2 years and was talking a mile a minute as we drove down main street and around the campus to her apt. remembering everything from the last time she was there. Apparently alot has changed with lots of improvements.

If you look real hard or click on the picture you can see a large "R" on the face of the mountain. The last time she was at BYU-I she hiked that mountain and had her lunch at the top of the "R".

Kelly is living off campus. As a freshman you had to live in the dorms on campus so she is very excited this time to have her own room and share a large bathroom with only one other person. Here she is after a long day of driving and shopping. Although she is very tired she is VERY happy!

Have a great time at school Kelly!!!

Caleb's Day!

2011-04-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Caleb is 19 years old today and looking back I didn't think this day would ever come. He was 16 days over due!
Here is a little snap shot of who he is in my mind.
Happy Birthday Caleb!!

As a very little boy you would see Caleb off on his own thinking, and being "quiet". Even as a baby sitting on my lap not even able to crawl yet he would just be "quiet". When he was about 3 years old we went berry picking in the big open praires and he had wondered off. There was Caleb sitting down all by himself being "quiet". What I would give to know what he was thinking when he was a baby, when he was 3 years old, and here in this picture 4 years ago.

Here are some more pictures of Caleb and what I love about him.

He is very exact. I think he needs to come gopher hunting with me!

He loves to get close to animals. There is something about Caleb when he gets close to an animal. He gets "quiet".

Circa 2007. Loves to play the guitar!

Circa 2008. Still loves to play the guitar!

Circa 2009. And STILL loves to play the guitar!
He also sings alot in his bedroom while playing the guitar which I really enjoy listening to when I am in my bedroom. One night while going to bed I fell asleep listening to him play the guitar and sing. I loved it.

He looks super looks great in a suit and tie!!

                                And he loves to Snowboard!

    I hope this year is a good one for you Caleb! There is alot out there to think about. Be "quiet" and listen.
                                                                    We love you!

My Fun day!

2011-04-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

I went out to my sister's house for an adventure and had a great day! I always have a great time there but this little trip was especially fun. Springtime brings different things to do so thanks to our friend Dixie, I was able to do something I have never ever done before. Aren't days great when you get to do something that you have never ever done before? As you read thru this post I will let you know the new and exciting thing I was able to do for the first time! Ready to hear about my fun day? Here we go!


This is me taking a "PW" shot. One way that you can goher hunt in the great outdoors is to first turn to a great counrty music station, you then roll the window down, wait for a gopher then you shoot! You want to be careful shooting gophers this way though because if you are caught shooting this way the fine is hundreds of dollars!


     Lee-Lee, Dixie and I taking a lunch break. Nothing like eating your lunch in the great outdoors!

Here I am pouring feed out of a bucket for the Bulls.

Here they come!

Swinging on rope in a barn? That's right. Pretty cool eh? (see the cats?)

Here I am feeling very proud. I have JUST tagged this new little calfs ear. This is the thing I have never ever done before. It's just like piercing a human ear but with a larger gun of course. Instead of wrting the usual number on the tag Dixie said I could write anything I wanted so I drew a flower!

This little calf was checking the gun out before I punched the tag in her little ear. Apparently they don't feel it.

Drawing the flower on the tag. I felt very official.

This momma cow was sure checking out her little calf. Some of these momma cows can get very upset!

I was talking to this momma cow very firmly. I was telling her to just stay back and let us do our job. Some momma's listen and some don't!

Here is Lee lee trying with all her might to keep these momma`s away so Dixie could do her thing. They listened to her.

Look at Dixie roping that little calf. Sometimes you can just walk up to them and do what you need to do and other times you need to rope em`.

What a great day I had!!
(excuse my pictures and words being off center. This posting is still a little tricky for me)

Another Montana Trip

2011-03-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

We took another trip down south to pick up our flooring that we had ordered 2 weeks before and decided once again to take advantage of the ski season which is closing in a couple of weeks. Our drive down this time was great but we hit a storm coming back up. It was a little interesting (we had the back of the 4runner tied 1/2 way down with some rope so needless to say we had the heat on the entire time. It got a little cool at times) and took us a couple of extra hours but when you are saving about two thousand dollars it doesn't seem so bad!
So this trip Lee lee, her youngest son Neal and our mutual friend Dixie joined us for a day of skiing. It was alot of fun!

See anything interesting about this Pickup truck? Look closer. It's a little hard to see but if you look up towards the top left and right side of the roof you will see Antlers. Yes. They were securely attached to the truck! Now THAT is Montana!! Can you say, "random" ?

This is in the front lobby of the Hotel. A little interesting and a little random. But cute non the less.

This is the building right next door to the Hotel. I am sure there is a story behind the horse and wagon that is on the roof. Again. Random. But then again very quaint.

Breakfast time.

More breakfast time.

Eyes closed.

Eyes open.

Lee Lee, Dixie and Neal getting ready to rent thier gear. Don't they look serious?

I saw this as I was skiing and just had to take a picture of it. That is quite a "hat" on top of that tiny shed. There was just so much snow around!

That Neal! He had a lot of fun trying to smash our faces together but we managed a non smashing picture. Well, wait a minute. Maybe this is a "smashing " picture. Lol!

Just relaxing mid afternoon while Chris and Neal are skiing the black diamonds!

I am pretty sure we would stay here again. See you again Kalispell Grand Hotel!

And Lee lee? Next time we won't load your car up with 7 hundred pounds of tile. Promise. Thank you again for helping us out. Really.

Big Mountain in Whitefish, Montana

2011-03-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

Chris and I drove down to Montana last week to look for some hardwood and tile for the main level of our home and to also go skiing. We were lucky and found what we were looking for at the first place we looked (Thank you Mark and Lee Lee for the suggestion)! We had a great time away and the skiing was great. And I mean great! Above zero temperatures + sunny and clear = perfect skiing! Chris had skied here quite a bit back in High School with his buddies and this was my first trip.

We took the road that people normally don't travel on in the winter but we didn't know until we were on it. The road had been closed the week before due to snow and high winds. Look at that 15 foot drift!

The drive was pretty scary at times with the winds blowing all the snow around so seeing this snow blower doing it's thing was a welcome sight.

As we were driving along on a different road but with equally bad weather a little Ford Focus passed us and we both thought that was a little crazy because of the very icy roads. Not more than 1 minute later that little Ford Focus slid and ended up needing some help to get straightened away. This is Chris and the guy that was behind us pushing that little Ford Focus out of the ditch.

We followed this Hummer up to Big Mountain. See the ski runs in the background? That is where we are headed!

We're on our way! Take the next right. See the Flag? No wind. Skiing is gonna be great!

We took a break for a few minutes at the Hellroaring Saloon and Eatery which was the original ski lodge at the resort and built in 1947.

Here is Chris about 1/2 way up the mountain with the mogul run down to the left.

Here I am at the same place. But I don't do moguls.

This is right at the top of the mountain. It's called Summit House. It was quite spectacular as you can see from the picture and seeing the two flags there side by side was pretty cool.

This picture and the one below are on the back (North) side of the mountain. I look mighty happy but I had just fallen. Twice. It was a little too steep for me but luckily it was only a short little steep run. I fell so many times this trip but that's okay because now I am an expert at getting up. But NOT an expert at putting my skis back on after a fall going downhill! See the trees covered in all that snow? They are called Snow Ghosts. One of the coolest things I have ever seen!!

Ms. Dress-Up

2011-03-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

Kelly is great at putting costumes together for different Young Single Adult activities. Here are just a few.Rock out Kelly!

50's Housewife!
Aloha Kelly!

Family Ski Trip

2011-03-01T13:35:00.001-08:00

For the last 5 years we have joined some friends from Regina to go skiing at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman, Montana. It's only about a 5 1/2 hour drive from our home now which is quite a bit closer than our previous 9 hour drive when we lived in Regina. I am not a great skier but I do enjoy it and finally felt more confident this year although at times I know I didn't look it.
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Chris had the camera in his pocket most of the time so there aren't any pictures of him. Also Seth's ankle was giving him problems so he wasn't able to snowboard after the first day so there are no pictures of him either.

This is what you see once you pass the front desk at the C'mon Inn. I really should have stood back when I took this picture so you could get the feel of this hotel. It has a very open feel to it and is a great place to stay. At the front desk they have a basket full of Andes Mints for the guests to enjoy! How great is that?

They didn't have these fish there last year. This hotel has only been open for 2 years.

This is one of 4 Hot Tubs that are on the main level just behind the stairs and waterfall in the first picture. There was always a Hot Tub available after a day of skiing and did that ever feel nice!

This is part of the Dining area that serves the best Continental Breakfasts ever. Don't you just love the Antelope's there on the wall? Kind of creepy I guess but I sure like it!

This was taken by Chris at the top of a hill that I don't ski down. It's just too scary for me right now.

It was a bit cold this year but fun to ski thru the snowflakes.

Here is Caleb. He's a Snowboarder and is really good at it. Chris took some pictures of Caleb on the run where you do all the tricks but he wasn't quite prepared with the camera. Maybe next year we can get Caleb doing some "sweet moves"!

I look for this old house on the left side of the road everytime we drive up to the ski hill. Not quite sure why though. I just really like it. Maybe it's the "what went on in that house back in the day ?" curiosity in me.

I don't know what the name of these animals are but I call them Yikkity Yaks. It's kind of a cute name for such wooly creatures. This is the first year we have seen them. I will be looking out for them again next year. These are also on the left side of the road going up to the hill.

Last but not least here I am visiting with my Aunt Pat, my father's only sibling on our last day of skiing. She lives in Bozeman and we stop in to visit her every year. It always feels like home to me the moment I walk thru the front door.

Let's start again shall we?

2011-02-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

Okay. I am going to start blogging again. The problem I have is how do I start this up again? Do I back track? Or do I start from this day forward? I will have to give that some thought and as soon as I can figure that out, you will see me here again.
I have changed the pictures of my kids on the sidebar and will add a picture of me and Chris when I find a cute one!

See you soon!

The picture.....ooops!

2008-12-31T22:15:00.000-08:00

I am still trying to work my way around this blog. As you can see, I am not that good at it!

Merry Christmas to you!

2008-12-31T22:06:00.000-08:00

Now that we are settled in our new home I need to be way better at posting on my blog.
I will start with this family picture. This was taken in Waterton Park on Christmas Day. We met up with my sister's family and had a great time tobagganing. It was a very snowy day with the snow falling as we raced down the hill. I had heard that last year at this time people were actually hiking in Waterton Park because the weather was just that nice. You just never know!

Happy Birthday Seth!

2008-11-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Today is Seth's 14th birthday!! It's very exciting. He has had a great weekend with Trick or Treating on Friday, moving furniture on Saturday morning and then that night had a bunch of friends over for his birthday. He has known these kids since Kindergarten so it was nice to have them over one last time before we move. He has chosen for his birthday dinner: Pancakes (thank you Jo-Ann, it's your recipe!), eggs, O.J., fruit salad and sausages (actually I added the last 2 items on the menu because we are having the missionaries over too)!

Moving

2008-11-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the boys helping Chris this morning. They were a big help. Chris leaves tomorrow with the loaded trailer and then will return on Thursday with an even bigger trailer. Bet the boys are gonna love that!!

My boys are funny!

2008-11-01T22:46:00.001-07:00

The first picture is a note that Caleb wrote for Seth!
The second picture is a note that Seth wrote to Caleb!

Halloween

2008-11-01T22:41:00.001-07:00

Seth and his friend Darian last night just before going Trick or Treating and then on to a party. He is a great friend to Seth. He will be missed!

WE SOLD and WE BOUGHT!!

2008-10-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

We sold our home 12 days ago and we bought a home in Lethbridge,ALberta just about an hour ago! We were going to put in an offer this morning when our agent called Chris and left a message saying that the people had dropped the price of the house again! Can you EVEN believe that? So we saved even more! Here are some pictures of our new place. We get posession (how in the world do you spell that word? David? Daddy?) on the 28th of November.

Birthdays, Bird and 2 kids=Random Post

2008-10-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Chris and Kelly's Birthdays together this year!
CHris is 49 and Kelly is 19!!

Chris went hunting today with his hunting buddy friend Don and came home with a Pheasant!! Isn't it pretty? I am sure we will be eating that bird tomorrow for dinner.
Kelly and Seth just before we went out for a Birthday dinner to Boston Pizza.

Seth's Pizza!!

2008-10-08T16:22:00.001-07:00

Here is Seth styling his new pizza in assorted flavors. Ham and Cheese. Made it himself! The other pizza you see is spinach/turkey sausage. All eaten with a diet Pepsi. In this house, you don't eat mexican food or pizza with anything but a pop! It's an Eagan rule.

Raspberries from my garden. Right next to my Potatoes.

2008-10-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

This is what I did with part of my morning today. I made a batch of Raspberry muffins and a jar (it's all the berries I had) of Raspberry spread. Seth will be a very happy boy because he really likes raspberries this year. Raspberry Crystal Light, Raspberry Mini Wheat cereal and Raspberry smoothies.

Look at em'?

2008-09-26T09:32:00.001-07:00

I thought I would go out to our garden yesterday and check out the potatoes. I was so surprised by what I found. Potatoes! Real potatoes! I got all sorts of different sizes. It was very exciting for me.

This is kind of a goofy looking picture. "Posing" by potatoes? Seth wasn't very excited to even come out and take this picture so I just went with it. I felt very "Fall-like" in my old orange t-shirt though. It matches the leaves on the trees....well almost. I gave some potatoes to the neighbors and then cooked some up last night and they were sure good!

First day of school

2008-08-28T14:45:00.001-07:00

Seth on his very first day of High School. He is making the number 9 with his hands to let you know that he is in grade 9 this year. He had a great first day and was pretty intrigued with the "odd" students around school, as in kids with their own style! And these days we know that it can be very interesting!

Caleb on his first day of High School...this year. He is in grade 11. These are 3 of his good friends that he hangs out with a lot. I haven't seen him yet after his first day so I can't tell you how he liked it. But then again it's old hat to him right?

Sean's 21st birthday...a little late.

2008-07-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Isn't he a handsome young man? He came over for Kelly's yummy meal and this cake was dessert. His birthday cake a tad late. But THIS cake is worth the wait let me tell ya!
Happy Birthday Sean!!!!

Kelly cooked dinner too!!

2008-07-29T18:10:00.001-07:00

So tonight was Kelly's night and this meal was equally as yummy as Caleb's was last night! She grilled Greek chicken, grilled zucchini with rosemary, saute'd asparagus with lime/rosemary and white rice. It was very good and very tasty. Wonder if Seth will want to cook tomorrow night? My kids are excellent cooks!

Caleb cooked dinner tonight!!!

2008-07-28T20:29:00.001-07:00

So I bought some meat the other day but wasn't quite sure what I was going to make with it. Caleb works at a place called "WOK BOX" and he said that he would make a stir fry for dinner! He did a great job and we ate ALMOST every bit of it. He chopped all the vegetables and learned that the skin on an onion is not edible. He even added chopped asparagus and I would totally do that with my next stir fry. That was a very nice touch AND a very yummy taste. Kelly wants to cook dinner tomorrow night. Yea!!

Aprons!

2008-07-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Aprons seem to be the "thing" these days so I thought I would make one as a gift for my friend Jo-Ann for her birthday. When I sent the picture of it to Kelly at school, she put that on her list of things "to do" when she got home.

So the first picture is of the apron that Kelly made and the other one is the one I made for Jo-Ann.

PS..I had the wrong setting on my camera when I took the one of Kelly!

Pioneer Trek

2008-07-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Trek yesterday and what a great 4 day experience it was! Chris and I were a Ma and Pa to 9 children. 5 girls and 4 boys. There were 2 stakes involved so there were kids we had never met before. We had great kids!

Our Trek started Friday morning where we were given our "children" and put our handcarts together and then off we went. We trekked about 17 k the first day in 32 c weather but there was a real nice breeze so it was pleasant. That first day was actually mine and Chris' favorite day. Because of the unknowns it was fun to look forward to the time ahead. We got into our place of rest just before dark and just before the rain, thunder and lightning. It was a very interesting night. We were greeted with banak and hot broth before sleeping.

The next day we trekked another 5 k to our base camp and got settled in for the remaining days. Each morning the families gathered to make their own fires to cook their own breakfasts. There were activities for us to enjoy during the day. Tippi(sp?) demonstration, stick-pull, square dancing, skeet shooting and if you wished, could have your hair washed. Saturday afternoon each family was given a live turkey to kill, pluck, clean, gut and cook for their dinner meal. The kids did a great job with the whole activity. Those who weren't interested in the turkey experience cleaned and cut up the vegetables. We put everything into our dutch oven to cook over the fire and then we waited. It was yummy.

Sunday we were awakened from our sleep by music being played by fiddles and a guitar from a hill in the distance. They played Beautiful Savior. We had church on a hill with the weather being great but then as the day went on we had our first of 2 storms. One in the afternoon and the second after our campfire program that evening. We had high winds, hail, thundering and lightening and amazingly not one of the tarps ripped or blew apart. At one point, it was so loud under the tarp that Chris had to yell so that I could hear him. And when the hail came it sounded like we were inside a pop corn popper. It was wild! But there was no complaining what so ever from anyone in the whole camp and there was a calmness. I know we were blessed.

Monday we headed out with much better weather and then ended our time with a testimony meeting.

We trekked in warm weather with plenty of water and sufficient food and sure we had a few storms but to think of those pioneers who trekked in the winter with the storms and unbelievable circumstances we only caught a very small glimpse of what they endured. We didn't have to bury our husbands, our babies, our children. We didn't wake up to our hair frozen to the tarps. We didn't have to take the leather from our only pair shoes to fix the hand cart wheels and then later take that same leather to chew on for food. We didn't have to walk in snow with no shoes on our feet. We didn't have to cross a frozen creek with the last set of clothes on our backs and then continue walking with the clothes frozen to our bodies. We didn't wonder if we would make our destination alive. This is what they had to endure and much, much more. Day after day after day.

"For Sale"

2008-07-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

Our house officially went on the market (mls) on Monday. I sure hope THIS does the trick! There are just SO many houses out there right now, but ours has that little something extra. It's what you feel when you walk in it. Those looking for a great house will feel it when they walk in too!

Oh, Canada!

2008-07-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Canada Day and we spent the day out at our friends lake house in the Quapelle Valley. We brought freshly made rolls and monster cookies and Linda made the best Fahitas (did I spell that right?) for dinner. The water was a little choppy for the boat to be wake boarding and tubing so we had to wait until about 7:00pm. Until then the boys kept busy with the trampoline, the Wii, Mini golfing and going down by the water to see if the wind had died down. Chris and I had a good time relaxing and talking with Ron and Linda. The weather was great.

Tree

2008-06-30T21:02:00.001-07:00

This is the best tree in the whole world and it's in our very own backyard! And the boy in it is pretty great too!! When we moved into this house almost 12 years ago this tree was very small. As the years go on, it just gets nicer and nicer. It covers a big portion of our yard now and really needs to be trimmed but we were a little too busy this spring so we missed the opportunity. If the branches were stronger near the ends of the tree, Caleb could escape out his bedroom
window. It's a very cool tree indeed!! See those canoes in the background? They are made of cedar strips and Chris made those babies!

Baked Oatmeal...yum!

2008-06-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

Our ward had a potluck last week and this was one of the dishes that a lady brought. I decided to try it myself and it's a hit! This is great because it is something you can make the night before then bake it in the morning. How great is that? Try it and I am sure you will like it too!

scant 1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup maple syrup or 3/4 cup sugar ( I used the syrup)
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon b. soda
1 1/2 teaspoon b. powder
3 cups oats
2 tablespoons b. sugar
1/2 cinnamon
Combine oil and syrup. Add in eggs, buttermilk, salt, b. soda, b. powder and oats.
Mix together. Pour into a lightly greased 8x8 square pan or pie plate. Sprinkle top with b. sugar and cinnamon. Put into fridge overnight. In the morning bake it for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
Good served plain, with butter on top or in a bowl with some milk.

Try it...it's fun!

2008-06-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

109

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

Without my husband....

2008-06-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

So I am at a special fireside tonight at the church to listen to Elder Kikuchi speak and afterwards I was just talking to different people and an older gentleman came up to me and asked me who I was and so I told him I was Sister Eagan. He said that he thinks he has met me before and then that was it. A few minutes later he comes by again and asks me if I was married. I said that I was married and that I have 4 children. I am totally taking that as a compliment. Don't I look old enough to be married? Gosh! Come back Chris!!! I would much rather have my husband by my side than to look too young.
PS Elder Kikuchi is speaking in our sacrament meeting tomorrow too! Lucky eh?

Seth's Grade 8 Graduation!

2008-06-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Last night was the ending of an era. Sean, Kelly and Caleb have all graduated from Dr. A.E. Perry also. That makes 17 years straight that my kids have been attending that school. It's been a good school with a few exceptions but over all great for them. The best part of all though is that they have been able to walk home everyday for lunch. It was a nice break for them and I enjoyed it too. Not to say that the days they didn't come home wasn't great. Because I LOVED those days too!
Chris wasn't able to go last night because he was in Lethbridge so Sean came with me and I loved that. Here are a few pictures. I realized this morning that I didn't get one of Seth with his diploma. Silly of me not to think of that.

Vintage Hawaiian Wear

2008-06-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

So as I was perusing through a great second hand store here in Regina, I came across these great items. They are great for a few different reasons.

1. They were actually made in Hawaii.
2. The fabric is unique. Not your typical Hawaiian fabric.
3. This fabric would make a great blanket/quilt.

When I got them home, washed them up and took a real good look at them I am not sure I can actually cut them up into little squares to make a quilt or a blanket. I mean how cute is that little kimono robe? And I bet that if I put a little brown t-shirt underneath the dress, I could actually wear that to a Hawaiian themed party right? Perhaps I will think a little longer about the whole quilt blanket thing. Besides, I can keep looking for more of that vintage Hawaiian fabric and maybe next time the clothing won't be so darn cute!

It's comin' up!!

2008-06-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

Lee Lee's birthday that is. We don't talk much about it though because she is a little sensitive about the whole "getting older" thing.
Oh, wait. I think that's me who is a little sensitive about the whole "getting older" thing. :) Ya, it's me. And actually maybe her too. Ya, her too! Happy Birthday Lee Lee!!!

Tuesday Nights

2008-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

For months now, every Tuesday night has been 'Guitar making night' here in our home. Chris, our Bishop, an H.S. friend and 3 other guys have been here making themselves each their very own guitar. It was something to pass the cold winter months but since it is nice, warm, sunny and green around here, oh...and because Chris is no longer around Tuesday nights, tomorrow is the last night. The whole idea was a big hit and the guys really enjoyed themselves. Each being proud of the work they had done. Chris is making 2 guitars and will finish them up when we get settled into our new home and city.
I will post the finished products later but for now here are some pictures of the process!

Something I thought I would NEVER EVER do!

2008-05-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here I am. Doing something I swore I would NEVER do! But I have been encouraged by a few family members more than once. And if you Mary-Anne could start a blog when I heard you say almost exactly one year ago today that you would NEVER do it, then I guess I can join the world of blogging too. So as I said....here I am.

I really don't think I have a lot to offer here but I will try it and see how it goes. Right now I suppose the entry's will be about our move out west and all that it entails. Did I use that word right David? I ask you because it was you that made me realize after all these years that the word rendevouz (sp?) wasn't actually pronounced, " ren-dev-es"!! I know, I know. Whatever.