August flashback

 After living all my life in the fruit belt of Ontario and then marrying someone who can eat a whole jar of applesauce in one sitting, the shock from the price of apples out here made me quit making applesauce for one entire year. ;)   But then I had to buy it, which was also another thing to add to my list frequently so this year I kept my eyes peeled for someone who was offering their free crabapples to people (and contary to my previous notion, crabapples are not sour, they are just tiny apples). I found an ad online and jumped on it which turned out to be very beneficial for our pantry:) 45 minutes of picking and I got over 30 quart jars of gorgeous, delicious applesauce.  One thrilled lady here:)

 It only took a few hours to make since I had so much help from these good lads. Many hands makes light work.

Andy took good care of our lawn this entire summer. It was soft and manicured.  All that was not without effort though, and it needed to be cut twice a week.  Even then often it still needed to be raked.  Sometimes the helpers were willing, sometimes it was a struggle.  Either way, it was always beneficial.

 And then Tristan turned SIX! Our dear, happy, silly, full-of-overflowing-enthusiasm cheerful little man. He had a little party and a delicious cake to celebrate.  He got spoiled with some pretty amazing gifts too!

His new rubber dingy - for using in the pool!!!  ;)

A geology kit.

And then Miss Abby, she turned 8 months, and wants to stand and walk soon. 

And then last but not least we were blessed to have Uncle Clarence and Aunt Diana and a few of their children visit for a weekend.  Uncle Clarence is my dad's brother and has always been in the "one of my favourite uncles" category;)  We enjoyed supper on Sunday at the Forks in Grassy Lake with a little fire.  The kids played wonderfully with Daniel and Megan exploring, fishing and looking for bones hidden in the coulees.  Their son Brad stayed behind to work out here and learn about southern Alberta farming and is now boarding with us in the guest house which is fine for now since we have no company coming in the foreseeable future.   It was special to have them over and even though it had been close to two years since we had visited it felt like yesterday.  I'm so glad they could come see this neck of the woods (minus-the-trees-neck-of-the-woods).

Tristan with a piece of a "dino" bone. (What it really is we'll never know, but we let our imaginations go wild).

Early morning farewell!

Mount Norquay, Cave and Basin, Elevation place and Kananaskis Country

These holiday pictures are burning a hole in my pocket. Is that even possible? Not really I guess. I keep thinking I should post them, but alas, life is keeping me hopping. School, bible study, music lessons and such have all started for the season (did I ever mention we have a boarder now too?) and I'm almost maxed out.   Which is good, keeps me out of trouble I'm sure, but finding an evening to blog takes some effort! 
But I do love these pictures and want to share them with you:)  so I hope you enjoy them too! 
It starts with Wednesday morning and sunshine - a perfect morning to go to Mount Norquay in Banff.  It offered a ride up the ski chair to some pretty amazing views. Sadly children under the age of four were not allowed up so I stayed behind by the Chalet with Rowan and Abby, having a beautiful cup of coffee.
The pull for Andy was the climbing this mountain offered with its Via Feratta climbs. You can click on that link I've put in, should lead to the website about the tours.  Andy's hoping the boys get excited about these sorts of things so when they are older he will have some climbing companions:)  I'm thinking I'd like to go too!

Tristan has climbing in his blood, just like his father. 

Once we left Mount Norquay the forecasted rain started so we chose some activities that were better suited to the weather. One was visiting the Cave and Basin attraction in Banff where the sulpher springs were. We didn't see as much as we would have liked due to the rain but the indoor exhibits were still interesting. That sulpher though.... what a smell!

We toured around the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, I've heard that if you act like you belong someplace, no one will question you being there.... we found a few beautiful spots which we will keep in mind for picnics someday...;) 

With climbing still fresh in the boys' mind and the cold wet weather outside we found an indoor pool and climbing wall in Canmore to spend some time!  What a great time we had, Seth loooved the big waterslide and I got a talking to from one of the lifeguards since all children 8 and under are supposed to be with-in one metre of their parents.  Seriously, rules these days.  ;)  Seth was allowed to do a little test for them which was swimming in deep water 25 metres (75 feet) alone.   I didn't know if he could do it but it was worth a try.  Apparently it was easy peasy and the lifeguards gave him free reign after that!  Yay!
After swimming we walked about 10 feet down the hallway to the climbing wall - this was something Tristan really wanted to do with Andy,and they had such a super time together.   Tristan a thin and quite small but he has alot of stamina! They climbed until the could climb no more! It was fun for us to watch and cheer.

Tristan is the lower climber, Andy the higher one.

Thursday morning was time pack up/clean up and head out already!  I made a big breakfast of sausages and eggs with toast.  Nice and heavy to keep us full for a while. 

See Abby's foot on the table? That's how she cruises!

We took the scenic drive back to Calgary on the Smith-Dorrien Trail thru Kananaskis Country and the Peter Lougheed Park.  It was a gorgeous drive, real back country, prestine views and lots of wildlife for the kids to get all excited about.  Very remote, I wouldn't want to get stuck or be stranded alone.  That's my sales pitch for that route;)  

Cute little cloud floating over the lake

This princess brings so much joy!!! (That FACE! )

Seth loves taking pictures for us. He's a sweet boy.

She was crying in her car seat... she wanted out!

Some of my favourite people :)

Something was funny!!

And now here we are far away from the mountains but we have some lovely memories.  The kids thoroughly enjoy going away and Rowan keeps asking when we go back.  We love the Canadian Rockies, but we also love the prairies we call home.  Everything has beauty of its own. In this land where we live there is so much to see and do, so many opportunities, so much wealth.  God keep our land!

The Tea House at Lake Louise

Shouts of joy, and squeals of excitement were heard  around here when Andy successfully cleaned out the barns on time to go away for a few days yet before a new flock arrived.  And since the Monday the birds were scheduled to arrive was a stat holiday (Labour day) we had one more day to enjoy 'off'.
While everyone else started school we had a "back to school" vacation;)  No one here was complaining about starting a week later, so I wasn't about to either;)
*Disclaimer - all my pictures are off our cell phones as I found Rowan 'washing' my Canon with the garden hose two weeks ago. :((  I am now camera-less.

We quickly found a one bedroom condo to rent in Dead Mans Flats just outside of Canmore, then packed our bags into the van along with four giggling kids, (which apparently don't get out much as they were so so soo excited to go) and drove to the mountains!  The forecast was not ideal, but that was ok, as we were planning to relax and sleep a bit instead of our normal running-around-see-everything outing.  Didn't quite work out that way, but all in all it was a very lovely time away and we enjoyed a vast array of activities.
Upon our arrival we saw rainbow after rainbow between the mountains, changing locations as the storm clouds moved and we moved between ridges.  It was a great opportunity to talk about God's promises and all that goes with it.

Tuesday morning was sunny and perfect for us to do the hike to the Tea House in Lake Louise.  It was approximately a 6.8 km round trip which was perfect for our family. Andy was super dad, carrying Rowan half the way up, the whole way down, as well as having Abby for a fair amount of the time. 

Mirror Lake

At the Tea House!  We made it up - that was quite an accomplishment for us.

The movement of walking rocked this trooper to sleep. Sound, sound asleep.

Do any of you ever go hiking on a regular basis with your children?  I get the giggles from the zoo-keeper feelings I get.  - Hang on to that one, nudge this one, encourage one more all the while carefully watching my own step so as not to trip with the baby on back.  There are many many lessons to be learned for everyone along the way, from the smallest one with the tired legs, to the oldest one trying to encourage us that we are 'almost there'.  It's quite encouraging also to receive so many positive remarks from passers-by who marvel at our 'large' happy family, or at their quick pace or even at the craziness of attempting to hike with a toddler and baby.   They smile, we smile, both go on with our days and lives, but still, it's a positive vibe that passes between us.  And my zoo keeper feelings seem all worth while. :)

Drama in the dry land

On the way home from the library a couple weeks ago I got a call on my cell from one of our neighbor friends. The conversation went something like this:
"Hello, Felicia here."
"Oh hi, this is Ben, is Andy around?"
"No, I'm driving home actually, - from Taber... Andy's at home though... have you stopped by the farm?"
"Yeah I was just there, couldn't find him.  When will you be home?"
"In five minutes or so..."
"We'll I went to farm and didn't see him, blue truck was there though.  If you'll be home soon, don't worry about the fire that you'll see in your fields. The fire trucks are there and it's under control now. Just thought I'd let you know."
"You said Whaaaat?? Our field is on FIRE?"

You get the idea, it was shocking and I made it home in record time.
The day was hot, actually the whole week was.  That day was +38 C.  We are putting up a pivot on the back field, which is dry land with native grass.  The company that is putting the pivot together was there with some guys who were grinding re bar for the concrete at the pivot pad.  Apparently when the humidity in the air is lower then the temperature fires happen and spread fast.  Which is what happened.  It took six fire trucks from Grassy Lake and Taber four hours to put out the fire.  A neighbor came with a huge tractor and pushed dirt around as well.   It was scary for us, it must have been really scary for the people who live with their back yard facing that land!  About 25 acres burned out. Most of the pieces didn't get touched except the computer control panel, which was covered by insurance.

 On a positive note, fires do refine land really fast and now all the brush and weeds are cleaned up for us:) Always thankful for the small things:)
A couple days later Andy had a grader come in to level a ditch and level around the pond in the same field.  The grader got too close to the edge and slid in the pond, much to the operators embarrassment and our childrens delight. ;)  An excavator came the next day to pull it out. 
After all was said and done, no one got hurt, and nothing broken that couldn't be fixed.  We also found out that our hearts are healthy and no heart attack should collapse us in the near future. ...although I'd prefer not to test it in such a way next time.
Life on our little farm on the prairie is never dull, and there seems to always be something new to keep the days interesting.