Slurpee Snob...

That's right, I'm too good for Slurpee's. I didn't even buy myself one this year and I only think that I treated my kids to a few. (Maybe because the summer wasn't so hot!)

My drink of choice comes from Booster Juice....and the drink of the Christmas season has arrived....their wonderful Eggnog booster juice. A light eggnog taste with banana and frozen yogurt. Megan and I give this two thumbs up! Any other time of the year I enjoy the original and the orangsicle (taste just like an orange popsicle). A bit more of a pricey treat but healthier and tastier.

Funeral

My Grandma Herget passed away on the last day of November. It has been such a long time that I've been to a funeral (both of my grandfathers passed away around 20 years ago). Spencer stayed at home with the kids and I went down to the funeral with my sister and brother in law. It was such a quick trip. All of her kids and grand kids were there (minus one). It was great to see everyone.

It is amazing the effect and influence that one couple can have. My grandparents had 5 kids and 29 grand kids and 68 great grand kids. She lived a good life and loved many and worked hard. She will be enjoying this Christmas with my Grandpa Herget. Merry Christmas Grandma. I love you and will miss you.

Movember three weeks growth

This is what we all had to live with for the rest of Movember. He looks great in a gotee but a moustache is a little different. He reminded me of a french inspector....we are all glad that it is over with now and we have our Spencer back.

Movemeber = one weeks growth

Well you don't need an up close to see all that scruff on Spencer's face. Only a few more weeks to win our prize with our Movember contest among the brothers/in-laws. So far so good. Except for Megan, she absolutely HATES Spencer with his goatee. We are still trying to figure that one out? At least she cares or is more concerned about the pokes she gets when giving Spencer a kiss.

P.S. sorry for the bad picture Spcncer! But it is for a good cause.

Fun with the kids

So Megan had an extra long weekend. We invited a friend for her and a friend for Evan to play with one day (thursday), complete with movie, popcorn and candy. After that they just all played together. It turned out really well. They (they came from the same family) played and got along well with other, since they all have similar interests. I'll have to do that more often.

Then next day (friday), Megan saw Evan off to preschool and then had to join me in running "mom" errands which was just grocery shopping. But in the afternoon we went to an indoor playground and then went for a swim. A bit of a handful swimming with 3 kids of varying ages/interests and abilities, but it all worked out and we had a great time. Then that night Spence and I went to the Temple. We also stopped in at the stake center to check in on our CV YW/YM and ran into our niece and a few nephews; we also go in a few dances. Phew! what a day.

Here is Megan showing her skills on the monkey bars.

Evan has just learned how to go down the "fireman pole" at the parks and loves to do it! It is awesome to see kids learn new things and to be so excited!

Here is Aaron crawling as fast as he can through the tunnel on the playground equipment.

Then the next day (saturday) I was again the single parent as Spencer was off to some early morning meetings and the kids had swimming lessons. Then that night we visited with some of Spencer's siblings. Which was nice, we don't get to see them too often.

Then the next day (sunday) Spencer jetted off to a work conference for 3 days. Boy we sure miss him and all the help he provides. I managed somehow in church. Miracle of miracles! Actually the kids and I really pull together to help and get things done.

Hopefully this weekend will be a bit slower, but I'm not counting on it. We are just really busy right now with kids, work, family, studying and church responsibilities. But we manage and keep putting one foot in front of the other as we continue on. We feel really blessed in so many ways.

Remembering on Remembrance Day

I always take a few minutes on Remembrance Day to remember those who sacrificed their lives in the pursuit of freedom. I give thanks that I live in a peaceful land with no war, that women are free to pursue education, that there are opportunities for us all to grow and learn and that we can freely choose who or what we worship.

When I was growing up there was an older gentleman in my ward who showed me that he cared about the youth in our ward. When ever he would see me, he would come up and put his arms around me and say, "How are you doing to day, Sis...? You sure look lovely." I always told him what I was up to and he encouraged me to keep going." I believe that he fought in WW 2 as a fighter pilot. He passed away a few years ago, now but on Remembrance Day I think of him and all those who continue to fight for our freedom.

I attended a Remembrance Day service at Megan's school. She has joined the choir this year at school and here is a short clip of the choir singing at the assembly.

Movember

Has anyone heard of Movember? In support of prostate cancer men are raising money by growing a moustache. Prostate cancer runs in my family and as such with some encouragement from my sister; the Burt Brothers and In-laws are growing their moustaches....

Here is Spencer with about 3 days growth. We are trying to determine which moustache style he will eventually go with, but for now I love having him in his goatee. Will keep you updated with how it is growing.

Halloween....

So here are a few things that we did for Halloween this year.

Always the Monday before Halloween we carve our pumpkins. I decided to only buy 3 pumpkins this year, as I knew that I would be doing a lot of carving that night so I didn't need my own pumpkin to do as well.

Evan's is a flaming face, Spencer's is...well his own creation (as usual) and Megan's is more scraped and it is Happini from pokemon.

She liked hers well enough, but said next year she would definitely carve her pumpkin. Aaron was just thrilled to be constantly lifting off the lids and trying to carry them. He could lift Evans but would get frustrated with the other two. I of course love the smell of a lit candle inside the pumpkins. Aaron just loved to see them all lit up. However due to fire safety issues and children around, I think that next year I will go with the flame less candles instead.

Megan and Evan both had halloween parties at school and got to dress up for that. Megan's school kinda grouped all the children together as to what their costume was, superheros, witches, princesses....Megan went as a hippy and her principal also dressed up as a hippy, so she was excited that they were the only 2 in that category. They both handed out treat bags to their school friends. Megan was reluctant to do so at first, but was then happy at the end of the day, since other kids also handed out treat bags.

On Saturday we went to our wards trunk or treat. Instead it was during the day and we did it inside the church. So every family got to choose a room to decorate and hand out candy from. Spencer took the kids around and around and around, until all the candy was gone. Then there were activities in the gym. Cookie decorating, touch and feel gross things like cold noodles, peeled grapes, etc., eat a donut from a string with no hands and balloon races...etc. It was great fun and a perfect way to celebrate halloween this year. They got just enough candy that I allowed them to keep it all and eat it. Evan's is gone Megan's is almost gone and we've been helping Aaron eat his.

On Saturday morning we had a special halloween breakfast of eggs and beef jerky as Evan now calls it.

For dinner we had eyeballs, maggots, bloody toenails, and ghost trees..... (sorry no picture of that gruesome dinner).

My Birthday

What a wonderful birthday I've had this year. The weather was beautiful. We ventured out on Saturday to Prairie Gardens and enjoyed ourselves. There is a corn maze, tractor ride (wagon/hay ride), petting zoo, hay bales to crawl around on, a haunted house, stores selling candy, pumpkins, gardening goodies, restaurants, making a scarecrow, pumpkin painting, peddling a tractor, puppet plays, people dressed up in Halloween costumes, panning for gold.....etc. A really fun place to spend the afternoon and lots of people thought the same thing. Then a quick dip in the pool and home for cake and ice cream and present opening. Megan finally told me a bedtime story, after years of me reading to her and Evan and Aaron showered me with hugs and kisses. Spencer eventually bought me a beautiful silver bangle that I've had my eye on for about a year and he also got me these flowers and black forest cake (I just had to pick them up from the store for him).

Our start at Prairie Gardens. The corn maze....

At the start of the corn maze. We "chickened out" and didn't complete it. Lets face it, with kids in tow and having to find 12 letters in this huge maze....it would have taken all night. We were starting to get hot, tired and frustrated with how things were going....

We also enjoyed ourselves at the petting zoo. Aaron loves animals and pretty much mauls them whenever he gets the chance. Evan on the other hand, is quite scared that the animals are going to get him. We won't break Aaron's heart by telling him that his dad is allergic to all the fun animals; Evan on the other hand is fine with that fact and will be content with trying to keep a fish alive.

While Megan was painting a pumpkin ---Evan had his heart set on riding the tractors. So off the boys went.

Here is pirate Spencer and what is a girl equivalent called?......Arr, Matey....Happy Birthday!

Kids say the funniest things

This is what Megan told us in the van as we were trying to find the best spot to park, so we could go swimming.
Megan - "Oh, mom....I know that you just can't wait until you become handicap so you can have a good parking spot." Said in all innocence...but alas, it is true....the part about getting a good parking spot, not about becoming handicap. (The place were we swim has a lot of handicap parking, as the pool has some design features that enable handicap people to access it easily).

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While the kids and I were waiting for Spencer in the van so we could go vote in our municipal election this is the conversation that I over hear......

Evan - "....Luigi wears underpants....ha, ha, ha"
Megan - "That's so silly, Evan! He doesn't wear underpants, he wears garments....ha, ha, ha"
Mom - laughing in the front seat, as does Spencer when I relate what I just over heard the kids talking about.

Said Evan...

For the morning breakfast prayer....

Evan said, "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the food, Bless the food...(some thought and a pause)...bless mom to be nice to me today, help me be happy, Name of Jesus Christ Amen."

We had a bit of a struggle this morning as we were gathering for family scriptures, listening ears weren't yet turned on and some yelling/screamy voices and not sharing. So I took away the source of all the problems; a pool blow up toy of Buzz and Woody that is in the shape of a rocket ship. Evan spied that one and a couple of other floaty toys that I bought. He then proceeded to break them out of their boxes and retrieve the pump and blow them up. Surprisingly he is very good at using the pump. Once again his listening ears weren't on as I repeatedly asked him to not blow them up and to quit playing with the pump, for fear that they would pop and the pump would break.

Only 2 more sleeps until he can use them at the pool.

Crazy about....

Give this guy a ball and he is all over it. He loves toys with balls, our basketball net, and just holding and throwing them. He can literally be entertained for about 1/2 hour or more. So needless to say we have a few balls around the house.

As a result of a love of balls he also loves balloons. Here he is with some balloons that Megan and Evan got from somewhere and he is all tangled up in them. Too funny!

On Top of the World!

So I'm finally taking some time to blog about my fabulous weekend in Banff at the end of September. Spencer and I rolled our Anniversary celebrations and the Mellissa's Road Race into one weekend. I would like to thank my sponsor who made this trip possible....First my mom and dad, who came up to watch and chauffer my kids around thanks, Spencer for doing the race last year, and I had to watch the kids and all the other racers; I vowed that next year we would run it together and we did, lastly my sister joining us in our race adventure and helping to secure a great hotel for us.

The highlights of the trip include:

• Sight seeing:
  
  
  

  We rode the gondola up Sulphur Mountain and we're literally "on top of the world" or our portion of it.

Here is the resturant/gift shop/gondola at the top of the mountain. It is always breathtaking and humbling to be so high on a mountain and to view the beauty that surrounds us.

We did the jaunt up and around Bow Falls. It was a beautiful fall day. We bought toques to wear, since we both had colds and wore our warmer jackets and a light pair of mittens.


Our final touristy thing that we did was go on a boat cruise on Lake Minnewanka. It was very interesting and nice to be out and enjoying ourselves. It was once 3 separate lakes and has had 2 hydro dams built on it. When they decided to dam it up they flooded the area with 30 meters of water, resulting in the one lake and also burying the hydro dam and a small town that was built around the dam. Our guide said that there are a lot of scuba divers that dive there to see all of these things that are under the water.

• Running the Mellissa's Road Race:
  
  

Here we are after finding parking and walking to the starting line. We all ran the 10K. Spencer and I ran it in 1 hour and 7 minutes. I didn't walk the whole race, but the race course is very crowded and in some places very narrow so sometimes you got caught behind walkers and couldn't hardly move around them.

Our timing chips...


This is my best 10K result so far (it's my only 10K that I've done). The sun was shining, a bit of a wind to cool us down and great refreshments after the race. It is always an awesome feeling to complete a goal and do better than you thought. I might even be itching to do the 1/2 marathon next year.....any takers?

My other observations that resulted from this trip:

I forgot just how quite it can be without the kids in tow....no arguing, no crying, no responsibility, no little ones to look after and help it was nice and muchly needed for Spencer and I to just get away.

Why in the heck did it take us 8 years to do this? It think that it just may be a more regular occurance for us....a get away without the kids.

I need a hot tub....we used the hotel one every night....nice!

I should also have a maid that takes care of some of the house stuff....it was nice to have our garbages emptied, beds made and other things done, cause I didn't have to do it.

It made our kids miss us and realize just how much they do love us, and the same goes for us. We missed our kids in the end and were glad to be home.

The first days of school

So Megan has made the leap to grade 3 this year. Here she is heading off to her first day. Purple seems to be her color or choice this year. She started off with the same teachers as last year, as they were teaching grade 3 this year, but due to some switching around in order to balance out the classes, she was switched into the other grade 3 class. For the most part she has adjusted to the new teacher and new classmates (even though she knows most of the kids from prior years and from recess).

Here is Evan on his first day of Preschool. He waited an additional week after Megan started her school. He was so excited to go back and is already looking forward to next year with the start of kindergarden. No tears of separation this year. He gives me a quick hug after getting his coat off, snack put on the shelf and indoor shoes on. Then he runs to play with his friends and all the toys. He is even doing the crafts this year. Last year it took him awhile to get interested in doing them.

Hooray for me and Aaron for being able to take naps, run errands and get some excerising done while the others are in school.

Where to start...

Sorry about the poor job of blogging....here is a recap of what we've been up to....

Spencer finally took me to a resort this summer...it's called "Old MacDonald's Farm" and it is a campground with many things to do to keep kids entertained. We spent a few days at the beach, ate ice cream, had breakfast in the restaurant, played at the play ground, rented scooter/bikes, rode on a train, enjoyed the petting zoo, and played mini golf and went on the swing ride. What was a draw back was all the mosquitoes, yikes!

This was one of those camping trips where it seems things were falling apart. One of our single air mattresses that the children were using, didn't have the stopper. The queen sized one for us, had a slow leak, one of our water mattresses got a hole in it, our camp stove gave up the ghost....you get the idea. Aaron would wake up at 3 am, only to be taken by me or Spencer into the van to try to finish sleeping. It was enough to say that we went camping this summer and I vow to make our next camping trip even longer and better. Just when we were starting to get the hang of everything, it was time to go home.

Here are the go-carts that we rented. They had adult and kid sizes. They were quite heavy to peddle and Evan was quite tired when we did this, but he loved to pull up on the break for a sudden stop. Spencer and I rotated, since one needed to be with Aaron and to help the other kids with steering.

Evan and Megan on the swing. They would challenge the kids, by getting them to throw their shoes into an old milk crate while the swing was going, just for fun. Evan almost made it. The swing ride was 25 cents.

Evan enjoying the water at the beach. We had a beach umbrella and towels and toys and ice cream to keep us happy. The water was shallow for a long ways out into the lake so it was also quite warm.

Happy Birthday Again...

Ok, this is our last birthday for the summer. We are planning a picnic/park day this afternoon to celebrate. Then cake and presents back at home to finish the day off.


I can't believe that our "little big guy" is 1 already. Where did the time go? The first year always seems like a blur, since you are adjusting to a new type of routine and still trying to stay on top of all the house, callings, and other family members. We wouldn't trade any of it. Aaron has been such a joy to us and our family. He is full of happiness and smiles. He loves his sister Megan who often helps out and is getting used to his brother Evan, who is still learning how to share with a little brother who touches and sometimes interfers with his fun.


Aaron is a super sleeper, a chit-chatter-er, he loves to point to things, a wobbly walker, a slide and swing lover, a forward carseat rider, and a wheel and ball expert.



Happy Birthday Aar-Bear (Air-Bear)! We love you!






Here are a few pictures of Aaron through the year. Enjoy, we sure have!

Campfire rice and crispy chicken

Here is our latest recipe:

Campfire rice with crispy chicken

Rinse 1 cup of brown rice (cause we're trying to be healthier)
Add 3 c. water
Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes

While rice is cooking you can also cook your crispy chicken.

Bake muffins and have your oven already preheated to 375 degrees. Decide to cook chicken, but realize that you only have frozen chicken breast to cook. (Due to the fact that you weren't that organized). Place frozen chicken breasts in baking dish and throw in the oven. Set timer for 30 minutes. Pay close attention, cause this last step is key...tell 8 year old daughter who is just playing computer (and she has done similar tasks in the past) to turn off the timer and to come and get you, so you can check on the chicken and rice. Proceed to go upstairs for just a quick nap, cause as a mother of 3 you tend to get tired. Sleep longer than planned and upon waking up smell the "campfire" smell. Quickly check time to realize that you actually slept for an hour and a half...opps! Run downstairs not seeing any children anywhere (cause they are downstairs, drawn to the TV). Quickly check the campfire rice, yep, burnt on the bottom, well cooked with the campfire flavor throughout. Pull pot off of stove, next check on the crispy chicken. No need to check for doneness, you are 100% sure that all chicken breasts are throughly cooked and now also have a lovely crispy skin, without all that batter on the outside.

Try to salvage the dinner by atleast cooking up a vegetable on the side that will be fresh. Scoop out the rice into decorative bowl, being careful not to scrape the burnt bottom. Saw through the chicken breasts and cut into chunks (hopefully the smaller bites will be easier to chew through).

Put a smile on your face and let the kids know that this dinner is similar to the one that they will be eating in just a few short days on our family camping trip.

Taste of Edmonton

What would you do....On a friday when you allowed your children to have a bit of down time from all the other activities that we have been doing during the week, the baby is sleeping much longer than his usual nap time and you still have groceries to pick up before the weekend crowd arrives?

You would go shopping in the afternoon with all the kids in tow, right? It took me much longer than I would have liked, but we all fared pretty well. Evan was so desperately tired, apparently that he fell asleep in the cart. (He was quite the spectacle that kids and parents were in awe of this funny looking scene and couldn't help but stare!)

I made it to my 2 usual stores Costco and Superstore and then headed home to take care of a by then cranky baby and a van load of groceries. By the time I unpacked everything and put it away, it was only a hour before Spencer was due to arrive home. Well, I decided that I deserved a break, but then by the time Spencer arrived home, I just couldn't get started again, to cook dinner. (Even the flowers that he picked up for me didn't do it!)

So we packed up the kids and ventured out to Taste of Edmonton downtown at Churchill square. The food we tried was delicious. Evan my pickiest eater settled for some noodles from The Old Spaghetti Factory. The weather was beautiful and we let the kids (except Evan, he doesn't like getting wet, if we are not prepared) get wet in the fountains outside of City Hall.
Megan picked BBQ Ribs and Spencer and I tried some Vegan chicken curry with rice that was 2 thumbs up from us and we got some sweet potato fries a mini cheese burger and a couple of coconut ice creams. Phew what a start to the weekend!

20 Minute Challenge

Well we have been up to a few things but didn't remember to pack our camera along to share the joys.

On Wednesday at 6pm we drove like crazy to make it out to our first 20 minute challenge put on by The Running Room. You receive a free running hat (it was red this year) and get to run/walk for 20 minutes as a group. There were a ton of people out with dogs and children in strollers. The weather was a bit iffy. But we decided to go ahead...besides those big black rain clouds weren't going to produce anything, any ways. So with Aaron in his stroller and Megan and Evan along side us, we started out on our 20 minute walk. We enjoyed seeing all the flowers, the skate/bike park, a baseball game, watching all the dogs and being with other families. We made it to the 1/2 way point and got our water, but Evan was easily distracted by a small park that we came across on our journey. Since this was a casual thing...we gave the kids 10 minutes to play.

We were almost done playing, when a few rain drops started to fall. So we quickly hurried to get back, but not before getting drenched. We were by this time doing a mix of walking, running, and carrying the kids. My poor Evan had long since taken over the stoller and control of the only blanket that we had (he hates getting wet, if it isn't suppose to be part of the activities). Aaron was riding on dad's shoulders while wearing his adult sized running hat, while getting wet, but didn't seem to mind. Megan did bring her jacket was doing fine. In the end Aaron got the stoller back but not the blanket and since Evan's legs weren't working and we didn't feel right just leaving him there Spencer ended up carrying him back, while Megan jogged beside me pushing Aaron in the stroller.

It was only a short lived sunny shower, but when you aren't prepared and there is no shelter to seek out, it always makes for quite an adventure.

Now we only have 4 mores years to participate in this challenge and collect each new colored running hat, before we can upgrade to a bigger better prize.

I've already used my hat and love it.

Devonian Botanic Gardens

So we are slowly venturing out and trying to do something each week and with only about one nice rain free day a week....it's not hard to want to be out doing something.

Our first adventure this summer was to check out the Botanic Gardens out by Devon. It is run by the University of Alberta. There are a few greenhouses with different vegetations and a butterfly house. Then through out the grounds, they have different themes...the Japanese Gardens, Alberta Gardens, Rose Garden, Native Gardens, etc.... We chose a beautiful day to go and we even picked up our cousin to come with us. It would be fun to take some pictures out there and even take a picnic lunch, since they do have picnic tables. They even have a tour that takes you all around the gardens and they tell you about each section. It is a 45 minute tour, which you get to ride around on a super long golf cart. Evan said that we should ride on that fun looking car, but I knew that my kids wouldn't last. So we enjoyed getting some exercise and vitamin D.

Our day didn't start out too great for Evan. We parked near a curbed tree/flower area in the parking lot and there were tons of ants. I was busy getting Aaron settled in the stroller and everything else together, while the kids enjoyed looking at and bothering the ants. Poor Evan was standing on the curb in one spot too long and ants started to climb up on him! If you ever want to hear a little boy scream like a little girl....that was the time. I quickly brushed them off and reassured Evan that he was ok and them distracted him with getting inside the gardens. Hopefully there will be no lasting effects....

They have various classes offered there throughout the year, a little gift shop, a cafe, and an ice-cream stand. We indulged with some ice cream after our tour.

Beautiful blue butterfly in the butterfly tent. (It didn't fly away cause this one had since passed on!)
Ben by the Japanese Pagota and Evan trying hard to be in the picture.

Some of the many statues that you can spot throughout the gardens.

Ben, Megan, Evan and Aaron sitting in a willow chair in the herb/healing garden. Does anyone else love the soothing benefits of gardening like I do?

p.s. every first Tuesday of the month it is half price. Check it out. We give this place 2 thumbs up!

Phew! What a week...

"At last two go home and the party is done. How many are left? Could there be only....one?

The house is a wreak and the couch has been frosted. The food's been devoured and Mother's exhausted. But one little monster is grateful and glad. It's the best birthday party that she's ever had!"

This is a quote from the book Monster Math by Anne Miranda and pretty much how I felt at the end of a very busy week.

Please read the above quote twice. Once for Evan's birthday party on Wednesday and the again for Megan's party that was on Saturday.

Here's the highlights:

Evan had 4 friends and a pretty good first party with friends involved. It took him awhile to warm up to playing with his friends at his house, but enjoyed it by the end. He started off his day in a real sweet way...finally a cereal that he likes...this is his birthday card from us.

They all played downstairs with cars, dinosaurs, transformers and a ball toss game. Then our first activity was to make candy kabobs....yummy!

We then had a car walk instead of a cake walk. That didn't last too long, remember the attention span of 3 and 4 year olds! They did enjoy picking out prizes though.

We enjoyed some hotwheel car cupcakes (every boy got one, they were on the white cupcakes, hence none are left in this picture)and opening presents. He received too many to list, but did get some of what he loves, cars, hotwheels track, puzzles, books, outside things, workbench, transformer...it was a successful party. Megan was such a big helper at this party. Aka the butler, she helped keep the peace and enjoyed playing and being part of such a fun party.

Happy birthday Evan! He has grown so much and is such a fun part of our family. He is confident and happy and is learning so much. We are lucky to have him as part of our family

Megan had 4 friends over and a Mario themed party.

She started her day off with a new sugary cereal....golden Grahams. (aka our birthday cards this year!)

The kids decorated t-shirts first then we had lunch outside in our back yard; we're trying to enjoy all the nice weather that we can.

We then played a few party games...the yoshi egg stomp, unwrap the gift with 2 wooden spoons by rolling dice and getting doubles then we played hot potato aka pass the clue box. Some kids won additional prizes, but all walked away with nice t-shirts and gift bags.

Then we enjoyed some lovely one up mushrooms and luma star cupcakes (megan whipped up the cake batter on Friday for me).

Then we opened presents. I won't list the items, because she got a ton of stuff, needless to say she got some of everything that she loves...webkins, super mario, books, crafts, a frog....

Megan is my big helper and a great big sister to her lovable brothers. She enjoys reading, playing computer and Wii, swimming and soccer. She is good at drawing and loves to make and do crafts. She is 8! I can't believe it and soon to be in grade 3. We love her lots and are glad she is such an important part of our family. Happy Birthday Megan!

It was a fun and successful party. Phew! What a week.

ps thanks Aaron for giving mom a few weeks break, before your big birthday. I just might be fully recovered by then. cheers!

Last day of School!!

Father and Sons Camp ...plus one daughter

This was a most enjoyable weekend....Spencer, Evan and Megan left Friday night for the our stake's father and sons camp. (Yes, Megan was the only girl). They had a great time. The camp site was just outside of Westlock. So it was a little bit of a drive. (Spencer and I packed up Thursday night and I finished off on Friday). They arrived after having eaten dinner in the car on the road, set up the tent and got all sleeping gear out.

Then proceeded to go on a canoe ride. Spencer said they finished canoeing around 10pm. Then had some smores around the camp fire, then off to bed.

The next morning was more playing at the beach and in the water. They even got a little boat ride thanks to a member of our ward who brought his boat out! They all had a great time.

I also enjoyed myself....I hung out with Aaron and cleaned the house. It was so quiet and peaceful. The house stayed clean for longer than a day. Heavenly!

Let the Birthday Extravaganza Begin...

Three cheers for Spencer's Birthday (or should I say 33 cheers?). He starts off our birthday party trilogy. A quite family party was all that he wanted, and it turned out to be less than that. Aaron was our party pooper, as he came down with a fever and was not in any position to be active. So I stayed home with him, as Spencer finally go to test out his new helmet on a bike ride to the park with the other kids.

After that we had some down time at home and proceeded to open presents and have mixed berries with a custard sauce on top in lieu of a cake. (Requested by Spencer)

He received some nice gifts....

A lovely card that evan made and a nice purdue tie...

Megan earned this shirt from her school, for having completed 200 nights of home reading. Way to go Megan! The front has the school logo on it. Now they have matching shirts.

This is from me and ok the kids too. A running watch. Spencer spent the rest of the day charging and reading the manual and discovering all about it. He has used it a few times and loves it. I'll be borrowing it some time too....thanks!