Potato harvest

 Andy worked part time for friends this past harvest season driving a potato truck.  Here are a few pictures from his venture. Questions about the process? You'll have to ask him.  ;) All I know is there are lots and lots of potatoes in this neck of the woods.  Lays potato chips and McCains fries both have enormous factories in the area.  One is actually so close by to our farm that if the wind is the right direction we can smell the fries frying.  Which of course makes us instantly hungry.  ;)  It's pretty incredible to see the harvest of the land out here, vast fields with enormous machinery digging out mountains of food for the humans on this earth.  Food. More then enough, with literally tons going to waste. It's a blessing I hope we never take for granted. 

Thanksgiving time of year

Everytime a new season starts I fall in love with it all over again.
I think I love spring till summer comes in...
and I thought I didn't want summer to end till autumn rolls across the land...
and I'll probably like winter just a wee bit when it makes it's arrival too.

I love the changing seasons but fall, I gotta say it, is something else.

The crisp nights and early mornings.
A garden overflowing with deliciousness.
Baking full of cinnamon and spice and all things vegetable and fruit.
School and Bible study.
Long sleeve shirts and brown boots.
Yellow leaves and all things orange. 
Gourds. Pumpkins. Sunflowers and Black Eyed Susans.

We have been in this small part of the world two full years this past Thanksgiving weekend. Time flies!  Slowly this farm has become more and more "home-like".  We've been working hard to make it feel warm and inviting, a place to come home to, a place to love and be loved.  A place to find beauty and blessing.
For everyone those words mean something else, but for me a warm and loving home environment is of utmost importance.  And it is home now.  I am thoroughly used the sounds and blemishes of this 80's house, even the ever present coyotes don't bother me anymore. :)  That's saying something;)

We are content.

This is what my days have been filled with - and we're enjoying them immensely.

Tomato soup for canning.

We tried growing Atlantic Giants this year

...and then of course my sugar pie pumpkins.

An average daily haul.

Bread and butter pickles

Pumpkin and pies.  Family favourites

Smor'es!! 

My baby bug - she keeps us laughing

I'm trying to teacher Abby how to take selfies :)

Supermoon eclipse

 "And God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night - and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light to the earth." Genesis 1:16,17. ESV

The supermoon lunar eclipse, which happens only once every 30 years or so happened to take place again the last weekend in September and we were pretty excited to watch.  Of course we had to learn about it first to truly appreciate what was happening, and we were pretty awe-struck.

It was very special that we could start watching while it was still light outside and finish watching just in time for bed.  And even neater was that friends and family all over could watch the same moon at the same time being covered by earths shadow.  A shout out goes to my sis Natasha for these gorgeous pictures of the moon she took at her home in Owen Sound.  It looked the same here only I had no camera to take pictures with! So thanks a ton!
The kids were thrilled to cozy up on the trampoline with blankets and sweaters and moon gaze till past their bedtime, although I must admit that once we threw Abby in bed things became alot more peaceful and less crazy.  She can not sit still for even a moment. 

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!