Tyler and Juliana's Visit

It was such a pleasure to have Addy and her family join us on the farm for their vacation this year! Addy was so much fun! She was just delightful. Of course the rest of her family was great to have here too, but Addy had made so many changed over the past 6 months, it was amazing to see! What a beautiful, fun 3 year old she is!

Here is Tyler, Juliana, Addy and Mckenzie, on a tractor for a family shoot.
...and beautiful little Mckenzie and her award winning smile, with her lovely mother, Juliana!
Dillon and Tyler had a day to enjoy together before Dillon had to head back to Edmonton to get back to work.
Babu and his little ones. He is always in heaven when any of them arrive. Wil and Mckenzie, both a little over one year and they were lots of fun together. Lindsay and Nathan flew to Australia, and left the boys here. They enjoyed being with Addy and Mckenzie on the farm. They hardly got homesick, and were as good as gold without their parents. They had lots to keep them preoccupied, that's for sure!

Addy adored being outside as usual, and she spent time loving on our kitties. They loved all the attention!

Wil was a super crawler, but we encouraged him to walk on his own. He was going everywhere by the end of his visit, but he also learned how to climb on this truck all by himself and make it go! Not much stops him!
Mckenzie could run, and often did when the boys were around. She had fun sliding down the slide in our backyard, and splashing in the kiddy pool!
Sweet sisters. They got along so well. Addy was always mindful of what 'Kenzie' was doing.

Mckenzie loved to get on this tricycle, but it was hard to ride in the grass. Her legs weren't quite long enough either. What a cutie pie!

Wil is helping Babu play guitar one night before bed.
Story time was common and I always had a crowd. This 'slide' book was a hit, as everyone took turns opening the doors. Wil, Shosho, Mckenzie, and Addy

We went up to Waterton one afternoon near the end of their week. The kids enjoyed eating hotdogs at 'Weiners of Waterton' and playing at the new park with all it's new equipment. Here Addy and Mckenzie are going down one of the slides.

Wil enjoying a long swing. He was mesmerized!
Beckett being brave on the winding slide! Addy showed him how to do it and they had fun going back again and again.

Down by the lake throwing rocks and relaxing in the shade. Don and Wil under a big tree!

Tyler and Juliana...what fun it's been to have them here in the summer!
Don and I are in the photo together with all 4 of the granchildren. It was amazing that their swings all swung forward at the same time! Beckett is the farthest away, then Wil, Addy and Mckenzie in front.
Back at the lake side resting for a moment. Addy doesn't sit too long but she did join me for a while. It was such a beautiful day in Waterton. A rare thing, for sure!
Beautiful Waterton from behind the Prince of Wales Hotel, up on the hill overlooking Waterton townsite and lake.

Lindsay and Nathan's Visit

We were excited to have Lindsay and the boys join us for a visit to the farm from June 22 to July 5. Nathan joined us for the 4th of July weekend and then they flew off to Australia to look for housing. We kept the boys for another week to help them out. Don had so much fun with the boys!

Here we are enjoying our hot tub one evening.

We love our new deck that Don rebuilt this spring.

Beckett loved to help, so he's doing some of the watering too. The watering can just got too heavy though!

We had a lot of nice weather, so we were outside doing things like swinging, sliding, swimming, and eating on the new deck.

Lindsay had fun crafting with her extra time. Here she is building a rosette necklace out of fabric and buttons that she found in some of Gladys' materials. She was excited to find them.

A sunny day lent itself to a swim in the little pool. Splashing was a big deal and we all got wet!

I loved to snuggle with Wil, especially when he was tired. All he needed was his 'binkie' and his blanket and he was good to cuddle. Oooh, I loved that! We spent a lot of time encouraging him to walk, as he was a pro at crawling, but lost his nerve when trying to walk very far. By the end of his visit, he was truly cruising!

Here is Wil learning to pet the cat, Murphy, who is very old and crippled. He loved the outdoors.

Swinging with Shosho in the nice summer sun. Yes, he has sunscreen on for sure!

Beckett was such a good boy and was so kind to his little brother. His imagination was unbelievable and I loved listening to his made-up stories as he played.

We went to a luncheon with some of my closest friends, as they wanted to see Lindsay and the boys. We had a lot of laughs that day!

Dillon enjoyed taking Beckett out on a quad ride and it was funny to see them in these big helmets. Beckett could hardly hold his head up, and taking it off was another story!

REady to ride!

Thumbs up, Mom. Away we go!

Beckett having a blast in the big hot tub. He loved the water!

Dillon and Wil. What characters they are together!

Wil in Don's work hat. It has a long tail to keep the sun off his neck, and Wil loved wearing it.

Nathan arrived on July 2, and had a busy weekend, getting in some quadding time as well as some good gopher hunting. We enjoyed a big BBQ for the 4th of July and many of Don's family members came to celebrate with us. Tyler and Juliana and their girls arrived the night before, on July 3rd. It was a great family party.

Lindsay made a great 4th of July cake. It was so beautiful on the outside, we hated to cut into it. However, there was a surprise when we did. It resembled the flag and it was way cool! Thanks for making it, Lindsay.

Lindsay made some cute little T-shirts with the flag on them for the boys to wear. What cute boys! So happy!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

A Surprise Visit from McKay and his Parents!

Some of the wild flowers that Don brought to me during June. These flowers are on the late side due to out wet spring. I still love it when he brings me wild flowers!

Sorry, these photos are a bit out of order, but when Beth, Brenan and McKay surprised us with a visit, they went up to Waterton before heading home, and although it was cool up there, we had fun together anyway.
McKay, learning to throw rocks in the lake with Shosho!
Babu watching from a distance...
What a beautiful place in our backyard!

Beth, Brenan and sweet McKay came to the farm for a surprise visit. Brenan's brother, Dallin, was graduating from high school and they made the sudden decision to get home and surprise everyone with a two-week vacation in early June. How fun to come home from teaching and find them here! I loved every moment!

I had carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand, so I did a lot with my left hand. Having McKay here didn't bother me at all...I just didn't use my right hand much.
McKay helped me plant my flower baskets, or at least he kept me company! It was a beautiful Saturday in June...finally!
The work was slow with only one hand...

Dillon was here too, and we had a ton of fun together!

Beth made one of her fondant iced cakes for Father's Day and it was so delicious! Thanks, Beth!
McKay helped me get the shopping done...what a good little helper!
Out on the patio at last with some decent weather to enjoy under the umbrella! Yeah! Thanks for coming up for a visit, McKay and Beth and Brenan. Come back, soon!

An April Update

Back in April, Don and I travelled down to Utah for Brenan's graduation from BYU! What a fast and fun long weekend it was for us and we got to have a bit of McKay time, and were able to celebrate with Beth and Brenan, his family and my mom and dad. It was the first time they had seen little McKay! He was 11 months old and had been walking for 4 months! He was a go'er!

My favorite part of April in Utah is the flowers...look at these beautiful tulips, just blooming in time for graduation!

Toward the end of April, we had several snowstorms that caused much grief. Dillon was due up in Edmonton, so Don plowed for literally 2 days moving enough snow for him to get out, and although our highway was 'closed', he ventured out and made it through in some very bad road conditions!

New Posts...Check them ALL out!

Hi to anyone who reads our blog. I finally took some precious time to put a few updates on here, starting with Halloween 2009, so go back (even to the 'older posts') and have a look at all that's on here. I'm finally caught up through New Years 2010! There is a lot to look at! Sorry I've been so slow!

Happy New Year!

January 1st and out we went to play some more! It was such a beautiful day here with all the snow.

Time for a soak in the hot tub! Addy was such a little fish!
Happy birthday to Tyler. We were happy to be able to celebrate with him before they had to leave to go back to Colorado.