Wasa Lake

We spent the week camping with Scott's family in Wasa. As you can see from the above picture there are a lot of us! Scott used to go there every summer while growing up, so he and his siblings were really looking forward to taking their kids there. We had all kinds of weather, from hail and rain to really warm sunshine. We spent some time at the beach, and we went to a historical fort town for a day. It was really fun. But by the time the week was over, I was really glad to go home and take a shower. A week of tenting it is a long time!

Before... and After. The water was occasionally running off the tarp, we knew it would inevitably land on Kael. Sure enough, right down his neck! He was surprised, but didn't even really cry. Although it was wet our first day their, at least it wasn't too cold.

The second day we were there was so nice. But it was deceiving. One minute we were at the beach enjoying the sun. We saw some clouds in the distance and decided to pack up and head back to camp, just in case. Just as we pulled into our campsite the rain started. The hail came not long after that. It seriously POURED! When we came back to camp we noticed the tarp had blown off our tent, so Scott and I were busy trying to secure it in our swimsuits with rain and hail pelting our backs. In a matter of minutes the campsite was covered with rivers and lakes. If you look closely at the picture you can see the marble sized hail and the rivers of water. What an adventure!

Kael is so easy to please at this age. Give him a truck or a puddle and he will be happy for hours!

He really is happy... I think.

This was at Fort Steele. We got to ride a train. Kael slept through the train ride so we made it up to him by letting him ride the little horse while the rest of the kids made old fashioned ice cream.

If you're interested, you can see even more great Wasa pictures by clicking on the photo below.

Wasa

Film For Thought

My nephew Taylor is a budding film maker as I am sure you can see from the following videos....looks like his specialty will be documentaries.....lets hope he's not the next Micheal Moore!



Moses does make me laugh sometimes!

Happy Birthday Red Grandma

Scott's mom, a.k.a. Red Grandma, had a birthday on July 4th. That day isn't celebrated with fireworks here in the north, but she is such a great lady that maybe it should be! Instead, we celebrated with a fire in my new backyard fire pit. Scott was camping with the young men from church, so he missed the festivities. Scott's sister came into town with her 4 children and we all ate hot dogs and cake. It rained, but only for a little bit. And we stayed almost completely dry under our big willow tree. I should add, Scott's sister had the best idea of roasting cocktail wieners over a fire. They don't work so well on a bun, but they were super yummy and the kids loved them! You should try it.

BTW - the little baby in that last picture really is Kael with his cousin/shadow Broke. He just looks so different since we gave him that summer haircut - sometimes I don't even recognize him!

Family Pictures

Family Pictures

Family Picture time!! My friend Karma Olsen took these pictures for us. She did an AWESOME job! Sorry - there are some repeats with different finishes. They just all looked so great! (just click on the picture up above to view them all)

FIRST FISH

Moses and I went camping with Grandma, Grampa, and cousins to Castle Falls. Just like his Dad, Moses pulled his first fish from the castle river. It was so funny, Moses was just fishing and I went over and pulled his line and I was like "Moses, you have a fish", and of course he said "No I don't". I told him to real it in and yes....as you can see he got one!



We had a great time and it brought back a TON of good memories from my great childhood. I love the mountains and it was a great time being in nature and enjoying family....even though LaShauna and Kael couldn't be there.

KISSES

Happy Birthday to Scottie!

For the record, I did not forget my husband's birthday. It just took me awhile to TELL him happy birthday, on his actual birthday. And that was because we weren't celebrating it that day. And I told him the night before when we went to bed just before midnight. And over and over for the next 3 days! And it doesn't count as forgetting because I still had things planned for his brithday. And I bought his presents weeks in advance. So no matter what Scott tells you, now you know. I DID NOT FORGET SCOTT'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

Can you tell Scott loves fried foods? Homemade fried chicken and homemade french fries - Yummy!

AND homemade pumpkin pie. Someone sure loves him and did NOT forget his birthday!

Camping in Drumheller

In the middle of our wonderful time in Brooks, Scott took some vacation time. We decided to go camping in Drumheller with our good friends the Steeds. We miss the Steeds. We used to live so close and now we are so far. :( But we still manage to get together now and then. Moses really does love Jason and Kate.

We had a great time hiking, even if at some points it was more like rock climbing. I was glad Scott was carrying Kael, even though it made me really nervous to watch them at times. Kate was helping Moses most of the time. I think everyone thought it was better that I not try to hike and take care of a child at the same time. I am such a wimp when it comes to heights and steep inclines, there were points when I think Kate had to help me more than she helped Moses!

Kael's First S'more!

For even more great pictures of our camping trip, visit Jason and Kate's blog (jasonandkatesteed) by clicking here.

Medicine Hat... AGAIN

I feel like I am always posting pictures or talking about our reoccurring trips to Medicine Hat. But we always seem to have so much fun when we go there. I love the Holiday Inn Express there. And the boys were so good this trip. Plus some of the pictures turned out cute so I thought I would share them.

And yes, Moses is only wearing water wings now! They work pretty good for him. He can swim all over the pool with just those. He's getting to be a pretty good swimmer!

Check out Kael with his GIGANTIC piece of pizza. He wouldn't let me give him a smaller one. He could see how big Moses' was and he wouldn't take anything smaller!

Brooks

Well, as some of you may know we have been hanging out in a little town called Brooks for the past 8 weeks. Scott had to work in a rural site for a couple months and they had Brooks lined up for us since last July. It was actually an OK trip. The Condo they provided for us was a little small, and by the end both Scott and I were feeling the need for space. The ward there was very nice and welcoming. Even though we were only there for a few weeks we were invited over for supper, included in all kinds of activities, and even invited on a boat ride! The people we met made our time there so much more enjoyable than it would have otherwise been.

To give us something to do, I put Moses in a 6 week gymnastics course. Moses isn't the most coordinated child, so some things were obviously harder for him. But he improved so quickly! He went from crying on the trampoline the first day, to doing tricks on the last. And at first he wouldn't even touch the rings or the bars, even with teacher help. It gave him a lot more confidence at the park as well. He'll climb all kinds of ladders now (well, most kinds). BTW - I bet you are totally laughing at my son right now, Emily L. Don't pee your pants!!!!!

We spent a lot of time at parks, with or without other children. The condo didn't include a yard, or anywhere the kids could play. So we went out a lot.

Brooks had the best swimming pool. With a water slide, and wading pool, lazy river and lots of fun floating things. We went there a couple times and the boys both loved it. Scott would get some mornings off if he was working late in the walk in clinic, and we would go then. There weren't a lot of people around in the mornings. We really enjoyed ourselves there.

There was a lake just outside of Brooks with a nice sandy beach. When it was nice we would go there and play in the sand and wade in the water. At first the boys didn't seem as excited about it as I thought they would be. But they got into it after awhile. I still wouldn't say they loved it, but they will get lots of beach practice this summer!

While we were there we were lucky enough to meet up with some friends from Edmonton. The Hatch's were in our ward in Edmonton when Moses was born. Their daughter Addison is only a couple months younger than Moses. And now they have a son that is only a month older than Kael. Anyway, Roxanne grew up in Brooks and came down to be with family while we were there. So of course we got together and hung out a couple times. Moses and Addi were inseperable as little babies and 1 year olds. Now they barely know eachother. In fact, Moses was feeling very nervous when we first arrived. We were just serving lunch when I had the following converstaion with Moses:

Moses: Mom, I'm feeling kinda nervous.
Me: Really?! (somewhat surprised at his
vocabulary choice) Why are you nervous?
Moses: Well, I don't like these people. I don't
know them. And they make me feel shy.
I don't like to feel shy.

Keep in mind that the entire time he is talking all "these people" are sitting right there around the table, ready for lunch.

It didn't take to long for him to warm up to Addison and when it was time to go he was crying because he wanted to stay and play longer. It was really good to catch up and I am glad we were able to get together.

Moses and Addi hiding under the slide.

All in all, Brooks was a good experience. I'm really happy to be home and unpacked. And to have a backyard again.

All by myself...

After Moses got dressed the other day he told me, "Mom, I can make my bed ALL BY MYSELf - watch!" If you know Moses at all you know that he NEVER says the words, "All by myself." He is the least independent toddler I have ever met. He hates doing anything by himself. Needless to say I was so proud and happy when he said this and proceeded to show me his sweet, sweet bed making skills that I simply had to document the moment with a picture and it's very own post!