Another summer update

July 23, 2009

Garden Update:

Well I lost about half of everything that I planted. There were several factors that played out, but the long and short of it is ... I know better for next year.

Died: 1 pumpkin plant, 1 zuchini plant, 3 pepper plants, 3 cauliflower plants
Survived: all of my carrots, all of my lettuce (which we have been harvesting now for nearly 3 months), all of my onions, 2 cauliflower plants (harvesting for 2 weeks), 3 broccoli plants (harvesting for about 3 weeks), corn (already growing some ears), and my artichoke (the experiment :-)

All in all, I am pleased with my first attempt at a real garden and feel way more confident about next year.

July 25, 2009

This was a mixed emotion day for us. Justin's Grandma Joyce died and we attended her funeral in Lethbridge on this day. It was sad, but there was so much family there that we couldn't help but have a great time. It was awesome to be able to spend time with his family from Nevada and Utah because we just don't get to see them very much and we love them to death.

After the funeral we went swimming at a nice pool in town and then went out to dinner to celebrate Jeremy's 17th birthday. It really was a lovely day.

Funniest/extremely embarrassing moment of the day: There was a short viewing and ceremony just for the family right before the funeral. Joyce's children said there last goodbyes and then they closed the casket. As they were closing the casket Evan screams out and flings himself towards the casket "nnooooooo". He did this 2 times. I was so embarrased that he made a really sad moment kind of comical, but then I got to thinking about what he was seeing. In his mind he was probably litgitimately concerned for Joyce being closed up.

the "Fam"

Happy Birthday Jeremy

July 28, 2009

Spent the day exploring with my friends and their kids. We drove out to Drumheller and went to the dino museum. It was a great day!!! I love these two girls and just had the best time showing Evan something new. What a fascinating and cool place to go! Thank you for the adventure ladies ... can't wait to do it again!!!!

a real dino leg

I LOVE your face Kathy!

Me and Becka

Ok, Kathy and Becka thought this little guy was gross, but I think he is adorable!

Evan on a petrified tree

Love you girls!

July 30, 2009

We went to the Blink-182 concert with some friends of ours. Truthfully speaking, the music all around was great (including Fall Out Boy and All American Rejects), but I was totally caught off gaurd with how foul the band members were. If I had known they were like that I would not have gone! Their music isn't really that bad, but the musicians themselves???? Whoaa!!

Now, having said that ... Travis Barker ROCKS!!!!!!! Seriously this drummer is incredible, which I knew, but what a show he can put on! There was a part in the concert that he played a solo and the set stage literally flew in the air and spun everyway possible while he was still playing a crazy hard drum solo! I was completely blown away and thoroughly thrilled to be able to see that!

August 1, 2009

What a FUN day this was!!! It was another GORGEOUS day, and we spent a good long portion of it at the lake. It was even warm enough that I jumped off the dock into the water (that is saying something). It was so wonderful to be there with friends, but even more wonderful that Justin was there with us. Evan and I go to the lake often, but we never get to have Justin with us, so that was a major treat.

After the lake we quickly jumped in our car and drove out to the Strathmore stampede. It was small and really a lot of fun. The highlights of this part of the day were the petting zoo and the snakes.

The petting zoo had all of Evan's favorite animals and he LOVED getting to feed them. He was so cute with all of them, expecially Sarah the donkey.

From the petting zoo we went to the snake exhibit. They would let these HUGE snakes just slide on the grass and people could pet them. Evan got to pet the biggest one and was hooked! He kept saying, "I want to pet it again!" For whatever reason I was feeling brave that day and did something that I thought I would never do. One of the handlers kept wrapping this GIGANTIC snake around people and I asked him if we could do it to. (I have always had a hard time even petting snakes, and I have never held my brothers snake before!) What possessed me to do it I will never know, but it was soooo cool. I thought for sure that Evan would be fine with it, since he kept wanting to touch the snake, but then during the picture taking he saw the snake head and he DID NOT think that was cool at all. Right before we took the picture it started to rain, immediately after we got under the tent it started to hail like nobody's buisness. It came as quickly as it went, but it was pretty awesome!

All in all, it was a GREAT day!

Evan and the camel checking eachother out ... I HAD to put in this picture (for obvious reasons!)

I was worried that Evan was bite size, but everyone there assured me it was fine.

Now THAT is bravery!!!!
(poor Evan saw the head)

Someone took this picture of us the next day and I cannot get over how cute Evan is here! Seriously ... tooo cute!

Bridget

My sweet Bridget died today! Bridget was seriously the best dog anyone could have asked for. Since I was very young my Dad always said that we could have a dog if I could find a pure bred beagle for free. It took me a while, but my junior year I succeeded and we brought Bridget home as a new member of our family.

She was always so happy and loving. Bridget was a mother at heart. She loved to give love to anyone who asked for it, or anyone who needed it. Until her dying day she even continued to try and give love to our cat Sheba who always refused it.

Bridget took care of our family emotionally for so long and I am going to miss her so much! (I am crying right now) For a while she has been sick and in pain. I know she is running circles around heaven and spreading her joy to the angels there. I just hope she knows how much I really loved her! I am just so glad that I got to say goodbye when I was in San Diego.

Evan now officially has his motorized chair. It is a really long process to get a chair and we are probably not going to be getting "his" chair until about December or January, so Justin and I decided to bite the bullet and rent him a chair in the meantime so he has mobility now. Every child should have the right to move and the right to independence and we are just tickled that we are able to give him this gift.

My favorite thing that he is doing in his chair is "running" away from me while laughing hysterically. He loves his new independence and we are blessed to appreciate what that independence means to him. How wonderful that I have to chase him down the isles at Walmart.

:-)

Man do I love summer

July 15, 2009

12:00AM We went to the first showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We went with Karalee, Jaimie and her boyfriend Ryan. While we waited in the really long line outside we played "guess the flavor" with Bertie Botts every flavored bean. Honestly this is one of the best games to play, but horrible to participate in. There definitely times that I was ready to throw up!! I felt the worst for Jaimie, she got all the bad ones!!

5:00PM We celebrated Evans 2nd birthday with a party at the Lake. Honestly, it was sooo much fun! We had so many friends and family show up and that just made everything so enjoyable. Of course Evan had to act his age and prove that "it's his party and he can cry if he wants to", but as soon as the cake and presents came out he was happy (fancy that). We did a joint party with his cousin Austin who was in town visiting. Each boys got their own cupcake and their very own birthday song.

This birthday was so much fun for me because it is the first one that Evan actually comprehended. He knew that it was his birthday, he knew that everyone was singing to him, and he knew the presents were for him. It was so cute, because he got really excited while opening his presents and even cheered when he saw what was in them. Thank you everyone for loving him so much. He really LOVES everything he got, and asks to play with his new toys.

Birthday boys!!!

Evan and his stash!

July 16-17, 2009
FINALLY THE WEATHER WARMED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell that I am excited about this?? Seriously it took long enough to hit the 80's and 90's! Thankfully I have made some sun-worshipping friends (I thought I was the only one up here) and we planted our butts in the same spot two days in a row, while our kids played in the sand and water. My skin was so happy!

I was so sad that I didn't remember I had my camera until after our friend Rachel had already left with her kids, and Christy was packing ... oh well. Next time! :-)

Evan loves the water no matter how frigid (I don't get it). His favorite is when I have to wash him off and put his whole body in the freezing lake ... he laughs hysterically! Actually I do have to say that the second day was even warm enough that I braved the freezing water enough to dip my body in! (applause please!) :-)

DAY 1

He insisted on wearing his birthday hat for the majority of the day :-)

DAY 2

Butts planted in the same spot!

Evan just thinks the lake is too much fun!

while I was being brave ... my friend Becka snapped some pics (now I can prove I did it!)

July 18, 2009
We decided to go and do something that was new for our family. We went to a place that is called heritage park and learned about the pioneers of Calgary and the history behind the city. Our family really enjoyed it and Evans favorite part was riding the real train, the "aminals" and the rides! What a great relaxing day. We all came home and took a nap before our mini road trip to "Thunder in the Valley".

When we woke up we drove to the mountains with our friends to watch a fireworks show. Because it was in the mountains the sound just echoed everywhere. There were tons of people and the show was entertaining. The fireworks scared Evan and he promptly fell asleep. (poor guy!) Thanks Kathy and Leslie for coming with us!

Heritage Park

Thunder in the valley

I love this picture of Kyla and the cotton candy!

whoo ... what a day!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

We cannot believe that 2 years ago today our angel was born! We will never forget that call at 4:00 in the morning. We were quite surprised when the baby girl we were expecting came out with a bit of extra plumbing. As unexpected as it was we were so excited to be the parents of a son and it just felt right. We were thrilled that Evan and his tummy mommy were both healthy and doing well. We clearly remember the feeling of holding Evan for the first time, and the overwhelming joy and ecstasy of finally becoming parents.

Over the last two years Evan has been more than we ever could have hoped for! We have had so many experiences through him that draws us to our Heavenly Father. Before we became Evans parents we had no idea it was even possible to love as intensely as we love him! He means everything to us!

Happy Birthday Evan!!!

We cannot believe you are 2 years old!!!

Harry Potter

3:10 a.m. Just got back.
BEST MOVIE EVER!!!!
Can't wait for the next one!