Jesse's little lego Indy is pretty precious around here. He's been lost and, with prayer, found, several times. This last time he was lost for a couple of weeks in between me changing the kids' sheets and found when I stepped on him making the bed. I put him on the dresser in the kids' room for Jesse to discover. He was super happy and showed his dad. I overheard Brad talking to Jesse and he said, "you can play with Indy, but when you're done playing with him, give him back to me so you don't lose him. We want to keep Indy safe because when you're all grown up Mommy and Daddy will look at him and remember you when you were a kid. And we will probably cry." After the kids were in bed that night I heard one of the kids crying softly. I called and asked whoever it was to come to me. Silence. I called again. Silence. I called again and finally Jesse came out to me. I held him on my lap and snuggled him and asked him what was the matter. He cried some more before finally saying:

"I just want to be a kid forever!"

He went on, holding his little lego Indiana Jones in his had, "I don't want to grow up. I just love this little guy so much!"

It broke my heart! He gets it, how awesome it is to be a kid. And he is the best kid ever. He has so much fun, every day, being one protagonist or another. He really embraces childhood and life with so much passion. It makes me want to hold him in my arms and cry:

"I want him to be a kid forever! I don't want him to grow up, I just love this little guy so much!"

The most important thing to Jesse is his "friends" (his cousins). After a day at the zoo today I asked him what his favorite place was and he said, my friends are my favorite place, meaning, wherever my friends are is my favorite place. Which is why it's a little sad that one of his best friends is moving far far away to Texas. My kids adore their Mason cousins. We'll miss you guys, but we'll see you lots still I'm sure.

My Roots

Saturday we celebrated my Grandad's 80th birthday. I'm proud of my family and my roots. They are all so kind and warm and beautiful, which humbles me and makes me feel like I want to be a better person. 

We did a tribute to my Granddad who has obviously deeply affected all of the lives of his grandchildren. My little contribution was this:

Growing up one of my favorite smells in the world was the smell of Grandad when he hugged me. One time my Mom told me he didn't wear deoderant. So, I stopped wearing it and although I'm sure I don't smell good like grandad, no one has ever complained.

True story :) Others talked about Granddad teaching them to love nature, he being a conservationist "long before it was fashionable" (that was my Mom), teaching them how to swim (and then I remembered he taught me too! So cool!), teaching them the importance of family, etc. I only felt a little bit silly that mine was so superficial! But the thing is, I wanted to be like Granddad and that was the underlying premise. My Granddad and I, as I've come to learn more in these last few years, really "get" each other. We think a lot alike and I love talking to him.

It was truly beautiful to see my Granddad's joy in all of us. I will never forget. I am excited for the time when I am older and I can look on my posterity with pride. I also want to allow my children the opportunity to grow up as individuals because although his posterity are all so different, we are all kind and non-judgemental(if I do say so myself, haha) and that is what matters.

Another thing I remember about my Granddad, a couple of years ago at our Radium Christmas I did pushups for the talent show. I was proud, but then my Granddad got up and did *20* perfect pushups and I was even MORE proud! That is how I want to be! He was in the Army. My Mom was a classic "army brat".

My Grandparents made up a quiz for us and there were 3 teams competing for a prize. My team lost :( Probably because of me :( And I felt bad :( That I know so little :( But SO excited to hear the answers and learn more of my heritage and country. The quiz says a lot about what is important to my Granddad. 

* I just realized my Mom only sent me the second and third pages and it's too late to call, so this will have to do for now!

Here is the QUIZ

There was a lot of love in that place. 

My Granddad is a photographer and I so fondly remember our slideshows at family gatherings. My favorite memories as a child were in Radium with my extended family. Pleasant pictures in my mind.

I never realized until this weekend how very alike my Mom and Grandma are! My Grandma, (who never seems to age, strangely) is very matter-of-fact but also warm and loving. They both have this amazing ability to lay down the law so that no one even thinks to question. But they only use it ever so rarely. I hope somewhere deep down I have inherited some of that power :)

My Mom is the sweetest, most honest person you will ever meet. Which is why I took so much pleasure in this story I heard that day:

My Mom told her little brothers they were giving away free marbles at the store. My Uncles were so excited, they left right away and stuffed every pocket they had as full as they could get them and came home with all these marbles. Of course when Grandma found out they got in trouble and had to take them back. Hahaha! I just cannot imagine my sweet mother being so mischievous.

My poor, unsuspecting Uncles that my Mom so cruelly duped are the two men on the right in this picture. Every story my Uncles tell is funny. I wonder if it's partly because of their accent. B.C. Interior? Yes, they have an accent! Why, Mom? My cousin Ryder inherited it also, and I love it! Like music to my ears! (That's little Carter in the front, Tyrel's cutie little boy)

My beautiful family Sharon, Justin, Max, Afton (yes my Afton is named after the same person as she was!), Asher and Rachel.

Our team. The Looo-hoo-hoo-sers :( Jamie, Vanya and her little one Darren, me, Dallas and Seth. The one beside Vanya is her fiancé and I can't remember his name :/

The winners. Candace, Derek, Mitch, Lara and little Megan. I dare say Lara and Mitch might be the most beautiful couple I've ever seen. Not sure where Tyrel is but he was on this team too.

Aren't we a wonderful little bunch? Sorry for the rambling, but this was an important day for me and I want to remember it.

XO

Okay, I need to do a blog post. 

What to say, what to say, what to say...

went to the lake blah blah blah, went to the zoo yah-yah, went for a run, blah-blah, reading a book, boring...(the news, not the book) had a playdate, yep.

I clean my house all the time?....

Hm.

How about some pictures of my baby chewing her food?

No? 

Well, I can't help you then. This is as entertaining as it gets 'round here these days.

Oh wait! I do have some exciting news, but I'm not allowed to say anything!!!! Here's a hint though!!!!!!:

Can you guess?? :)

P.S. I can't stop thinking about and praying about this. 

 Playing at the Temple

 Eating outside the temple

 On our hike up to Forum Lake we came across this stuff we haven't seen in a while and I realized quickly how much I do not miss it yet!

 This long green piece of cloth is the thing I carried Afton up the mountain in. She was happy as can be the whole way, sometimes she would kick her legs and arms and just look around when she was facing forward and when she got tired I turned her around and she snuggled me and fell right asleep. I love it!

Happy Family-Jesse also didn't complain even one time! And neither did Brad, even though he carried Breanna on his shoulders almost the whole time.

 

Climbing up beside Forum Falls.

Canoeing on Waterton Lake after the hike.

I didn't get a picture but we went and did "beading" at Crandell Lake Campground, in a tent with 2 ladies from different Native American Tribes in the Waterton area. We made headdresses and got to see a buffalo pelt and talked a lot about Native American culture and the way it was "in the dog days" (before horses) Also, the first night we went up to Cameron Lake at Midnight to look at the stars and they were amazing. So many and so bright.  But we all got ourselves in a tizzy talking about bears and were too scared to really enjoy it for long. Now I regret that, but it's funny to look back on :)

Warming my hands by the fire and wearing my favourite new camping shirt. It has a hood and pockets and it's nice and soft. We stayed in the trailer and I actually had a good sleep EVERY night! Cushy.

How Grandma took care of Afton so she didn't crawl into the water while we were at Lost Horse Creek. Yet another use for the hippy wrap, thanks to her ingenuity! :)

Lost Horse Creek-the kids had so much fun playing in the water even though the water is, I'm telling you, not just cold, F-R-eezing.  And Brad and I jumped all the way in, here's the proof for posterity (Brad didn't want me to post his):

 This was the highlight of our trip! Thanks to Jill and Karen for watching our kids so we could go on a date! It was SO fun!! First we climbed Bear's Hump (in 18 minutes no less) and talked a lot and just enjoyed each other. We found a secluded spot with a good view and kissed (a lot) at the top (sorry guys, but it was fun!) and then picked wild raspberries on the way down. They didn't taste very good. Then we rode our bikes into town (it was downhill and so fun!) and went and got some fudge. It was called "Grasshopper Pie"- Mint, Oreo, White chocolate and caramel all in one delicious yummy YUMMINESS. Neither of us have been able to stop thinking about it since. We rode our bikes to Cameron Falls and had a good laugh at this sign:

 DANGER!! People dancing with deer!

 Then we hopped on our bikes and rode back to our campsite as the sun set. There's a new path and it was SO FUN! The view is amazing and there's lots of hills where you can't help but go "Weeeeeee!"

 See this bear? Yesterday we were riding our bikes on the path back into town and Jesse was on the back of Brad's on a tandem bike. This bear was walking along right beside the path! Luckily Grandma stopped to take pictures because when that bear finally stood up and looked right at us we booked it into the car until it went away. We saw about 7 bears this trip! One was a little cub stuck in a tree.

The kids had so much fun running around and playing, being free to do whatever they wanted.

I'm sure there's more I want to remember but I have to go to bed. I'm so glad we got to spend some time together as a family and I can't wait to go back to the most beautiful place on earth.