Grandparent visits

The end of May and beginning of June brought visitors twice. First Beppe came for a week, as was noted previously, during the time of the 4H show and sale.   Abby thought she had found a gaming friend for life so when Beppe left there were many shed tears over the loss of her new companion.  💖  When family doesn't live close by we get the unique opportunity to have family over for longer time periods and also for more occasions than people who have family close by.  Breakfast, lunch and supper for days mean a lot of intimate time together and so you can really get to know the person who is over as well as I'm sure they really get to know us, wrinkles, the need for grace and love and all the rest of the good, bad and ugly that makes the world go round and a family a family.  Abby is used to this now and has big emotions when people leave. I'm sure she would love everyone to just stay here and we could all be one big happy family all the time.  Kind of like a colony :) 

Walk for Life fundraiser in Lethbridge

Great Opa and Oma came in June for a long weekend as they passed thru Alberta again on another trip to BC.   The day after they arrived we were treated by them to a breakfast out at Smitty's to celebrate their wedding anniversary. (I'm thinking their 59th but I could be wrong)  That was a fun treat although going out to eat with five kids these days seems like a lot of crowd control :) It was impressive how game they were to deal with us all.  I guess Oma did raise 8 children of her own.

We also enjoyed a campfire and s'mores one evening.  Beautiful way enjoy a long summer sunset. I love how Opa and Oma are so comfortable with having kids around.  They get right in there and we all feel at home. We sang some songs and told some stories and jokes.  Before we knew it it was past our bedtime. 

On Monday when they left to drive on we went with them a ways down the Crowsnest Pass to the Leitch Collieries, which is a collection of structures and remains from a coal mine and processing plant dating pre WW1.  At the time it was state of the art and massive, most of it built and never even put to use, and now rests as a Historic site. We'd never been there so this was the perfect opportunity.  We also went a few kilometers down the road to the Frank Slide site and spent a bit of time walking  around before the rain started and we went our separate ways.  We are always so grateful for these visits from Opa and Oma.  We pray God will continue to grant them health that they may continue to be a blessing to those around them.

These two thought using Oma's umbrella was the epitome of cool.

One Sunday afternoon - 2018

💙💙💙💜💜

All together taking these pictures took about 10 minutes. Apparently that was 10 minutes too long for the three youngest.  I love the last one as Seth can't stop laughing over Marla's lack of cooperation.  It so captures all the right emotions of the moment, Seth laughing at Marla, Tristan has a plastered on smile for his mother, Rowan is trying hard to smile and stay interested but it's not working so well, Abby looks bothered and unwilling to turn the frown upside down and Marla is making a run for it.  Love this shot 😆😅 Those are our children. 

4H - Grassy Lake

This past winter we opened another chapter in our book of experiences.  This time it was because we joined the Grassy Lake 4H club. I should say Seth joined it, with his dad being his chauffeur and guide.  It seems to be the things to do here, and we were encouraged to try it by some friends from church so since Seth was "of age" we decided to give it a go. It was a big commitment from all of us but turned out to be a whole lot of fun and a worthwhile experience. 
First off was getting the calves.  Since cows are herd animals we needed two so Tristan got a spare. Two is better than one anyways... ;)  Meet Strider (black) and Rook (white).

Andy put together this shed just in time for the bad winter and we were all proud of the great job and amazing shelter he put together.  A wonderful addition to this farm.

From the months of October till the sale in June, the steers were fed a measured 4H ration twice daily.  The boys got up every morning (without complaining) to tend to their cows. They got fed before we had breakfast and before supper time.  Once, at the beginning of the season, we were looking out the living room windows and laughing about our neighbours cows running around in his field - loose.  Turns out, they were our cows *covering eyes with hands* and the joke was on us, they had broken thru the sheep fencing in search of greener pastures.  We had to periodically spend quite some time and energy fixing the fences and making them steer proof. 
Strider had to be halter broken which was a job in and of itself.  The club had monthly meetings and activities, such as highway cleanups, bowling and gathering food for the food bank.  A big event was the speak off, for prepared and impromptu speeches.  

By spring the steers had grown a lot and before we knew it, it was show time!  Very exciting!

Below you can see Seth - third from right.  His steer was monstrous and got a ribbon for club rate of gain, coming in at 1615lbs!  Seth was a little nervous showing him as the cows were a bit nervous and a 75 lb boy dragging around a stubborn 1615 lb steer has all sorts of crazy potential, but thankfully all went well and it was a fantastic experience. 

It was special that Beppe came from Ontario for the event and we could share the fun.  In the end, Strider was sold to Independent Crop Inputs from Taber for $2.10 per lb and off he went.  It was sad, but that was the end goal.
We should especially thank our neighbour Ben Tams for his help and guidance during this whole first year.  His experience and knowledge was invaluable to us.  

Rook ended up in our own freezer and we are thrilled with so much good quality meat. (790 lbs!!)  All in all this created a big sense of accomplishment for the boys, Tristan feels like a champion providing us with all this meat.  He got to have the first bite of the first steak.  What a winner.

Springs arrival and our collection of babies

 Spring came in beautifully this year.  We didn't think the snow would melt till August but sure enough, by late April, it was gone.  April also brought baby animals by the hands-ful and we could not have been more giddy to welcome these fur babies into the family.   A sign of God's covenant.  A token and promise that seed time and harvest will never cease.  Even though we know in our hearts the seasons will always come, this past winter was hard on us, on our minds and spirits as we had to be so often indoors, and boxed up in four square walls with a low cieling on top of our heads.
But then.... SPRING!

First off, a lamb.  Sadly only one of our three sheep made it thru the winter, and on the day she gave birth (April 3), it happened to be -21 outside so one died, but we saved one and it was thrilling and beautiful. 

Next came bunnies.  Again, we had a few batches that froze over the winter but April brought two batches, very much alive, furry and adorable.

Rowan became the luckiest boy around when he was gifted a beautiful little lab/border collie mix puppy. We named him Rocky.  A boy and his dog - heaven on earth.  Rocky belonged to a friend but was sick so they were not able to sell him so we are hoping that with all the love Rocky is receiving he will stay healthy for a very long time.  Welcome to this funny farm buddy. 

We have been here 5 winters already and not once have we been able to overwinter cats. I'm the crazy cat lady that scoops up free kittens at all the local farms. BUT this winter we kept all five adult cats that we had since last summer and lo and behold were given three kittens by one of the females.  Warm weather means lots of cat handling and cat-hair-covered clothing. But that's alright by me. I feel victorious that they lived all winter so what's a bit of cat hair between them and me? 

The kids are keeping busy, happy and healthy running from pasture to barn and back to the pasture playing with all the new life.  Andy also was busy working on fixing fences and building a containment area for the steers. Oh what carefree and happy days the children have. Blessings for sure.

 Lots of imaginative play goes on around here.  Cowboys one minute, gold miners the next.

We memorized this poem at the end of the school year to celebrate and thank God for his enduring goodness. 

 A Prayer in Spring - Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.