Snowshoeing

 A group of friends from the church here in Taber as well as ladies from Coaldale planned a day out to Waterton National Park (approx 1 1/2 hours south west from here) to snowshoe the Crandell Lake trail.  It was very nice to be asked to join them and Andy signed up willingly to take care of the littles all day so I could go.
I don't think any of us six from Taber had gone snowshoeing before and we were a bit surprised how much work it actually was.  The girls from Coaldale all had done it before and were more hardcore whereas we were not quite so competitive and were more prone to basking in the sunshine and enjoying the gorgeous views.  This was my first time in Waterton (can't wait to go again when it's summer!!) and Andy was quite green, so I made sure I took alot of pictures - for him:) 
  This was the first time I could remember ever leaving for 10+ hours in one day, and leaving the boys with Andy!  I was a bit nervous about it, but still had a marvelous time, and so did the rest of the family.  :) 

Taken with a timer - this is before we started, we are all fresh here still:)

We were nice and noisy to scare off the bears ;) It must have worked - we didn't see any.

Three big smiles...Marie-Louise, Helene and Leanne.

I was asked not to be so tall here...but sadly, it can't be helped;)

Jody, Loretta and Leanne.

At Crendall Lake!  The mountains surrounding it were so stunning!

Fun-loving Jody.  (She's moving soon - I am so sad!!)

Considering we haven't had any accumulative snow here at home for a while now...I thought this shows how much snow there is only a couple hours away.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my hubby!

I could write a big love letter to him on here but that's annoying for others....right?  Who wants to read that anyways. And I'm really not that good at writing one either.
So, I'll just say, we all are pleased as punch with the most wonderful husband and father we have been given, and we pray for many many more years together, in His service. 

(The barns got emptied again the night before his birthday so we were pretty tired and the day was pretty busy.   For celebration we decided to go test the new Boston Pizza down the road... much to the boys delight.)

Panorama

 Natasha gave me these pictures... I thought they were kind of cool. You may need to click on the picture to make it larger. 

This is the farm from the back - at the furthest corner of the crop circle.

The coulees close by our place.

I'm pointing to a herd of white tailed deer running along the ridge...hard to spot on this picture though.

Finishing the week (with Rowan and Tanner)

...continued from previous post...
Monday morning, March 24th, we left bright and early from Aunt Lydia's place after a cuppa good dutch coffee.  
We nicely cruised along till Red Deer where we stopped for coffee and donuts (mmmm). My cousin who lives a bit north of Calgary was gracious and offered to make up a pancake lunch for us to get as we drove thru - it was the perfect place to stretch our legs and take a break before making driving the final three hours home.

The kids were very cooperative which made the journey enjoyable. I think we all were tired too. By the time we got to Taber Seth was ready to jump out of the van and fly home - he could not contain his excitement to see his dad. That was nice to see:)
It was really fun to be able to show Natasha our home.  Tanner and Rowan were constant entertainment to us as they spent quite a some time testing each other to see who was ruler in the peking order. Two boys almost two years old can make simple toys seem like the most important thing around for their survival and we had to watch them figure out who was the  boss a few times.  Such cute little characters, full of life and sparkle.  Both don't speak too many legible words, but they really can show what they want and how.
 

Snack time

We spent Wednesday in Lethbridge as I had an appointment and while shopping I found a large ceramic bird that I liked for on the mantel. Of course I didn't need it so I didn't purchase it but mom came up with this idea that since it was going to be Andy's birthday next week... maybe he would like that bird... What a great idea eh?  (I knew he would be suspicious about it though and when we gave it to him at home for an early gift.... his face said it all :)) He knows how we work;D  It created a lot of laughter - and I love it.  Rowan and Tanner also loved the bird and were sweetly caressing it and carrying it around in their arms.  We will see how long it lasts;)

Welcome to our farm birdie - where birds of feather flock together.

Petting their new friend

Costco carts have room for two in the front of the cart.  What silly silly boys we had with us.

Tub time!

Oma wanted a picture of her with the kids yet, but they were not interested. 

Thursday morning before catching the plane in Calgary...

Coffee and crafts

Thanks to Ruth-Ann for getting engaged so we could have this fun time together! We are eagerly waiting for August to do it again, hopefully with even more people then...
We can't wait to host you in sunny Alberta!

Family reunion {mini} in Neerlandia

My 'little' sister got engaged a few weeks back and between my mom and sister Natasha, we hatched this wonderful idea to all go to the engagement party together.  I must admit it was a pretty nifty plan, which worked out wonderfully, despite all the kids/airports/rediculous-amount-of kilometers-involved.  Never mind that we did it all with out our hubbies. The hardest part for us all, I really do think.
The schedule was busy, it was as follows:
 ~ Thursday March 20th, 7 am I left with my three sons to Calgary Airport to pick up Mom and Natasha (Tanner).  The roads got worse and worse, so I ended up being late but all ended well, arriving at the airport at 10:30.
From there we went on to Red Deer {MacDonalds break}, breezed thru Edmonton and on to Neerlandia where we went to the Kruidhofs for coffee and supper! 

On the way to the airport... the roads were icy and vehicles were in the ditch (and I was taking pictures of them;) )

Loaded van!

Mom and her youngest sister, and me and my sisters (although Aunt Lydia is my adopted sister:)

~ Friday March 21st. Bridesmaid dress shopping was on the top of the list of things to do for the day - as well as engagement gifts for the bride-to-be.  West Edmonton Mall has it all and we were successful too, although with four ladies and two babies (Aunt L. graciously kept S&T for the day) who don't go to the city very often, we could have used another day {or two} to get thru all those stores.  We wanted to be back on time for the 25th wedding anniversary party of an Aunt and Uncle so it was a very full day.

Time for some fuel! Must be Canadian eh? We go straight for the poutine...

Before heading out we got some coffee...and no, not Timmies.

Rowan my dear child, loves the camera....this is his cheese face.  We can't stop him, and he can't stop himself.

Too funny!!!

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

  ~ Saturday March 22nd. I was staying at the Kruidhofs bed and breakfast with my boys while mom and Natasha {Tanner} stayed with Ruth-Ann so we met in the morning for coffee with my dear Beppe - the boys great grandmother. (Pake was busy wood working - no time for coffee!) Special to do.  It's not every child that gets to visit/meet his great grandparents!
Lunch was at Ruth-Ann's place, and we worked hard for that lunch cutting and preparing platters of fruit, veggies and meat and cheese for the party the next day.  :) 

Four generations (including Tanner on the left lower corner)

Ruth-Ann and Ben were willing 'babysitters'.

Having lots of fun together!

~ Sunday March 23rd, a day of rest and worship.  We attended church in the morning and the evening and enjoying visiting with family in-between.  It's always nice attending church with fellow believers, bringing glory to our heavenly Father.
 In the evening we got the meet all Ruth-Ann's future family and enjoyed a party in Roo and Bens' honour at the church.  I had Seth, Tristan and Rowan with me and they were well behaved although a big goofy, which means I did not have much time to take pictures.  The company was great and the food delicious. Rowan, my little sweet tooth could not agree more. He mooched jelly beans off everyone who looked him in the eye.  What a fun time they had.

For those of you who made it this far down this lengthly post... it's over:)
 I'm done for now, time to go to bed. But I will finish the week with Natasha and Mom on another post.

Seth is 6!

Finally, Seth is six.
Finally for him, already for us.
He was so extremely excited we heard about it for days, and the countdown had been on since February 12th, exactly one month before his big day. He had a little pocket calendar in which to knock off all the days. 
He's a very fun loving kid, full of extremes:) He takes responsibility seriously.  Decisions which should be small for a six year old become huge for this one. Like picking a birthday supper. He was quite worried that he would pick something that wouldn't actually be his complete and total favourite.  Andy made him a list and everytime he looked at it he could put an X or a check by what he thought would be best.  To top it off he thought maybe, possibly, he wasn't tall enough to be six yet....if he got more sleep would he grow faster?  So for a week Seth was nicely going bed on time or early, with-out a fuss so he could get some extra sleep and grow a bit taller... you would never want someone to mistake you for a 5 year old when you are really six, right?

The bottom entry is "Noodles" for those of you who can't decrypt it...
And the final result was hamburgers with fries, and pumpkin pie for dessert. 

What a good day it turned out to be.  Seth woke up to streamers in his bedroom door, and a treasure hunt to find the gifts. A little friend from church came over for the day after Son-Shine Bible class in the morning at church.
The weather was gorgeous, and with his new workbench the boys were busy all afternoon outside pounding nails and creating masterpieces.  Of course the puddles were an extra attraction, and which mom would say no after a long winter?

And our final fun before bedtime was putting a new mark on the growth chart! It'd been a whole year since the last one and it was exciting to see how much he'd grown.  He's now just a hair shy of four feet!!

 

Happy Birthday Seth. You bring alot of joy to our family. We thank God for all he has given us in you. We pray that you grow in love and grace and continue to show love for your maker!

XOX

Early March

Sorry, my family and friends, for the lack of posts.
We were all down with colds, stuffy noses and lack of energy.

This is what you would have seen in our house had you been a fly on the wall (only really for a couple of evenings)....
 We introduced the boys to the land of C.S. Lewis's Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Sitting in front of the screen is something we rarely do so it was pretty cozy, and exciting. Rowan woke up in the morning and pushed with all his might to put the couch back in front of the computer. Then he nicely sat there with a big grin, waiting to start again.  It's incredible what little kids notice and feel.  Love family time:)