I am so excited for today!!!! A month ago Cara and I got tickets for a women’s retreat to be held at the Ag buildings in Raymond. It was similar for a time out for women event. 

Cara came and picked me up at 9:15am so we could go to the Ag building. It was way more fun to carpool and the parking was limited. 

While I was sitting in our first class, I got a text from Shelyse. I haven’t heard from her in many weeks so the quick texting visit was so nice. So fun.

I was grateful for the day away from family and responsibility. It was a wonderful women’s retreat. I felt empowered and uplifted after hearing messages from ladies in our community. We enjoyed an awesome lunch through the purchase of our ticket. So yummy.

Brandon and Tysyn were the only ones awake with me this morning. I asked Brandon what he was doing awake so early on a Saturday. He told me his body is used to getting up early. Everyone else was still asleep when I left with Cara.

Jeff, Cassandra and Evan went to Lethbridge for training and shopping. Maren and Aaren were the sibling tenders at home. Thank you both. 

When I got home, Aaren asked if a friend could come over. I need to have Aaren’s friends over more because the two boys decided to clean out and interior detail the Daytona car. They took out junk and garbage and Brandon’s old clothes. They also wiped down the dash and vacuumed the seats and floor. It’s nice and tidy now! Thanks boys! I couldn’t convince them to do the van. It definitely not as cool as the car. 

Tysyn got invited to twin friends birthday party. I took him to the party, got supper for the family and then laid down on my bed after we ate to ward off a building headache. I set my alarm to wake me up 30 minutes later. I slept though and we were late picking up Tysyn.

Jeff picked him up and they both went to mom’s to feed the birds.

 

Cassandra and I went to the office to clean this evening.

PD day doughnuts

Today is a no school day. It’s a teacher PD day. Aaren still had show choir at 12:30pm and I cooked meals. The kids were usually preoccupied during the summer when I cooked meals and since school started, they’ve been away. This morning they all wanted my attention at different times. I think I had to tell each of them at one point or another that I was working a real job and couldn’t help them. But a sibling certainly could. 

This afternoon, Maren wanted to make donuts. After perusing Pinterest for a bit and finding recipes that have to let dough rest for hours and up to over night, I looked in Aunt Deanna’s cookbook. We used her recipe halving the quantities so we wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the amounts. It was a super long process taking upwards of 5 hours from start to finish. As Maren and I were frying the doughnuts, we wished we had made the whole recipe because we knew they would be gobbled up quickly. 

Learning to cut the circles very close so we don’t waste dough!

Ready to raise. 

After a few attempts at putting the dough into the hot oil and splashing herself, Maren turned that job over to me. She did all the glazing. 



All the finished doughnuts and holes. (Well minus the few Maren and I had to sample to make sure they were cooked properly.  ;) 

When Aaren came home from show choir, he wanted to make bagels. This week in high school foods class, the students made bread. Aaren came home that day and made more after school. He said it tasted like bagels. Today he wanted to try the same recipe but add cinnamon and raisins and shape the dough like a bagel. Fortunately for him, his loving mother finished the process today when two of his friends showed up. Aaren wanted to show off the noisy Daytona and they all wanted to go for a spin. I monitored and baked the bagels while he went with his friends in the car.

Cassandra cooked noodles so I could help Maren. Thank you!

After supper Cassandra rode her bike to a friends house. She visited there for just over an hour before she rode home and then I took her to another friends house so she could catch a ride to the dance in Lethbridge.

Aaren left for the same dance with Brody J.

Evan and Tysyn wanted to go to the to football game. Yup, tonight we were one of those parents who dropped their kids off and left. I don’t think they watched much of the game. I hope they were on good behaviour.

When Maren and I finished the doughnuts, we cleaned up the kitchen and then went to the stadium to watch the final part of the game. We detoured first to a friends house to pick up some boxes of apples she wanted to give us.

The friend lives in our old house on the highway. Jeff planted that apple tree from a seed many years ago and today it is producing abundantly. It’s a huge tree now!! The apples; not so much. They were fairly small, very firm and quite tart. But there were lots. I told her if the tree was pruned they probably be bigger. They are similar to a macintosh. I can’t decide what to do with them. I will probably just juice them and make sauce. 

When we got to the stadium, there was just over 10 minutes left on the clock. We found the boys on the hill. The stadium was packed so Maren and I watched the rest watched game from the hill too.

The comets nearly took the win but in the last minute there was a touchdown by other team.

The boys collected pop bottles after the stands cleared. While I was waiting around for them to finish, Maren came running up to me with a wallet. She said Tysyn found it and they didn’t know what to do with it. It had cash and a few cards including a debit card in it. We turned it in to the announcers booth. We also found a set of car keys which we also turned in. It feels good to be honest. 

After we left the stadium, we stopped by Taia’s house. Maren took her a few donuts that Devin would have eaten had he been home. Sweet treat. 

Tooth extraction and Terry Fox run

Somehow this morning I missed the alarm and when I finally woke it was 7:45am. I flew out of bed to wake everyone up. It was a rushed morning before school. Fortunately Tysyn and Savanna already had their picture day outfits ready. I drove the RES kids so they wouldn’t be too late.

At 9am, I picked up Savanna from school for an early dentist appointment. Savanna was given the task of wiggling her tooth all summer to try and get it out before going in for an extraction. It has hardly budged. It was the same tooth that had a pin and filling due to a fall in the tub when she was just little.

Her selfie in the van on the way to the clinic. You can see her adult tooth already out behind the front baby tooth. 

A picture before the extraction. Haha

Soon to be a toothless wonder. 

The dentist did his best to give her minimal freezing so it wouldn’t affect her smile much. We took great care not to get any blood on her clothes.

The extraction was quick but the dentist was amazed at how much root was still there. Basically the whole front tooth. All the root. She got a cute little container to hold it in, a wad of gauze to stop the bleeding, and a cute tiny stuffy as a prize.

Not too impressed after the extraction. 

Savanna and I detoured to the Merc before going back to the school. I purchased 2 packages of strawberry wafer cookies. Then we went to the school. Savanna went to class and I dropped off Tysyn’s pink snack contribution of Raspberry lemonade and pink cookies at the office. The teacher texted me while I was at the dentist. She said her class was talking about what I might bring that was pink. They thought I might bring bubblegum or cotton candy.

Nope. I hope they like it.

When I came out of the school, Tysyn’s class was getting their picture taken on the front lawn.

Ok. One more. I love toothless grins!

After lunch, Rebekka and I went to Perrett Park to watch the junior high Terry Fox cross country run. The grade 9 girls ran first so some students could go to a volleyball tournament. Then the grade 7 girls ran. I was grateful both girls were in the first two races! It condensed my afternoon instead of waiting around for the grades. 

Photos from the run.

Maren waiting for her grade to run. 

Here comes Cassandra. She wasn’t last!

Grade 7 girls getting ready to run.

Here comes Maren. 


Maren placed 11th. 

Tysyn is supposed to read every day. It is the hardest thing to do. Sit beside a new reader. I’m trying and he’s trying. Good thing he is so cute!

Primary presentation and Quest fireside

Today was the ward primary presentation. After the sacrament, the children and adults moved to their places on the stand. Jeff sat at the end of our class and I sat in the middle. The children were adorable. They sang and spoke with the spirit. I loved their simple testimonies.

Evan: My name is Evan. Heavenly Father wants all his children to have the blessings of the gospel. We can be a missionary now by being a good friend to others, being a good example, and inviting friends to come to Primary and Activity days. 

Savanna: My name is Savanna. The 4th Article of Faith says, “ We believe the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are, 1st, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 2nd, repentance, 3rd, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, 4th, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. On May 26th, I was baptized by my brother Devin. I felt very happy to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. 

Tysyn: My name is Tysyn. Joseph used a seer stone, and the urim and thumim to translate the plates by the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Rebekka: My name is Rebekka. I know my Heavenly Father loves me because he has blessed me with a loving family.

This evening Aaren, Jeff and I attended the stake Moroni’s Quest 2018 closing fireside. Each and every speaker reminded me of something I felt and learned when Jeff and I went as tribe leaders many years ago. It was an awesome experience for me and I’m grateful that our children get the opportunity to go too. I’m sad Devin missed the closing fireside.

A few photos of the boys. 

Devin’s tribe. Eagleites. Jared and Roxanne Heggie. 

Aaren’s tribe. Tarheelites. Stephen and Allison Archibald

9th ward King Benjamin tower building

Devin as a disciple being blessed by Jesus. 

Jesus instructing the 12 disciples. 

I have loved looking at pictures of Quest 2018.

While Maren and I spent the morning cleaning at the office, Cassandra watched her youngest siblings at home because Aaren, Brandon and Jeff went to Lethbridge today. They also stopped at the auto wreckers to see about parts for two trucks. Brandon was looking for stuff for his new truck and Aaren picked a few parts too. Aaren is slowly getting parts for the green truck we have parked beside the house. Aaren wants to get the green truck running so he can drive it when he gets his license!! (Around March)

Maren attended a birthday party for a friend this afternoon and when she got home, Maren, Evan and I went to Lethbridge for groceries. It was fun to see Hardy cousins shopping in the same store. 

This evening Aaren was working on his snowmobile engine. He’s still trying to get a part off so he can send it in for repairs. When I got home from shopping in Lethbridge, he said this to me.

“I’ve mostly pretty much almost figured it out. This thing. How to take it off.”

Haha. Does he know what he’s doing?? You bet!

He’ll keep working on it til he gets it. Hopefully before the snow flies. It’s a snowmobile and he wants it to play in the snow!

Photos from this week.

I attended the Show Choir parent meeting at the high school. The students preformed a Christmas number they have been learning. Aaren, Ammon and Jaylin are the Hardy cousins to watch for this year. 

This is the last of the fruit of Evan and Maren’s labour this year. They helped plant the corn seeds with Grandma. Thank you mom Hardy for the corn!! I only got three large ziploc bags for the freezer this year. We are a lot fresh. We will savor those 3 bags. 

A meal this week with just veggies. So yummy. Some of the children think it’s not a meal unless there is meat on the table. 

Rebekka showing meshe can eat a tomato. 

Savanna wanting me to take a picture of her eating her potato. 

Tysyn didn’t want to be left out. He wanted me to take a picture of him eating corn. 

Brandon has been in Raymond all this week. His truck is still in Calgary. He has been driving his boss’s truck. He worked a Monday and then was off all week because of bad weather. He was able to put in a short day Friday but the weather changed again for Saturday. After work Friday, Brandon bought himself a cherry bomb for his truck. He is so excited to put it on his trucks exhaust system. But he will have to wait.. his truck is still in Calgary and he doesn’t know when he’s going back to get it!

It’s too hard to tell in this photo, but when Brandon was coming up the yard, his hoodie ties looked like he had wicked long split beard dreads. (Think Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean.) It was so funny and ugly. Too bad I caught the blink in the photo.

Brandon loved putting the cherry bomb on the Daytona and driving it up and down the street. Aaren and Brandon want to put one on the van. They say it would sound awesome!

Maren and Evan entered the Ag society's Aggy Days colouring contest. We got a call late Friday afternoon saying Maren was chosen as winner for the Grade 7-9 category. Maren, Evan and I went down to the AG building at 7pm to accept her award. She received a $25 gift card to the movies. Congratulations Maren.

Maren and Evan at Aggy Dayz. These chicks in this big box were just hatched the morning of this photo. They were so yellow and fluffy!

Ammon Hardy, Aaren and Devin and Nathan Steed all sang as an acapella quartet in 9th Ward (that's our ward) sacrament meeting this afternoon. Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy.

Joan Harker came up to me afterward to compliment the boys. She told me she has heard a lot of quartets in her life but this group of boys were excellent. She even noted they had a key change. They sang amazing!

I recorded it as they were practicing on Saturday evening. I was sitting in the back listening. If I can figure out how to add it, I’ll do so. It isn’t a great recording but it’s still pretty awesome.

The primary presentation practice was today. They practiced for the first time in the chapel. It was a little bit of madness. The presidency only planned to practice for an hour but the reality was that it took one hour and forty five minutes. Thus my prepared primary lesson wasn’t needed. They practice again this coming Friday and perform on Sunday.  

After meetings and as we were leaving the church street parking, Devin drove past. We saw him and he saw us. He turned around to see us and parked beside us. Several of us got out to say goodbye. He gave hugs to a few of us. He is heading on his way to Northern BC for a month. Devin will be moose hunt guiding until the middle of October. He will drive in the Buick part way today and finish the rest of the trip tomorrow. 

Update: Devin had a difficult drive. He encountered heavy snow in Banff. And he turned off to Golden instead of driving straight through to Jasper. He ending up stopping overnight in Golden at the Travelodge hotel. It was difficult for Jeff and I to follow his travel. 

When most Saturday mornings roll around, it’s not a day for sleeping in.

The alarm went and I woke Cassandra. We headed to the office for 9am. We dropped Aaren off at the school for show choir dance and solo auditions.

After the clean, I got a message from Aaren asking for a lunch. So I kindly made him one and then dropped it off.

While I was gone this morning, Jeff installed the new stove he picked up last night.

But after reading the manual and looking at the stove, I’ve come to realize that we would be down grading features with this new stove. So after much consideration and discussion, we (me) have decided to return the new stove to the store, put our old stove back and look for a cheaper used stove for our rental.

I’m sad to be losing a new stove but I feel like I can’t live without these features.

1. Our stove has 2 outlets in the top panel above the dials. I use them a lot. To run beaters, the Bosch, cellphones and other appliances. The new stove doesn’t have any.

2. My stove had a nightlight. It’s on most nights to provide a small glow in the kitchen. There isn’t one on the new stove.

3. My stove has 3 oven racks and a few features within the panel. The new stove has only 2 racks and the panel looks a little basic.

4. And the game changer was the fact that on my stove there are 4 indicator lights on the glass telling which burner is still hot. We all use this ALL THE TIME as we approach the stovetop to see if the burners are hot. The new stove only has 1 light to indicate any of the 4 burners may be hot. When we turned on a burner to try, it heats up nice and hot but, the light goes out before the burner is cool enough to touch. And there are no lights above the burner dials to indicate that they are on.

Because we decided to return the stove, I decided I wasn’t putting a dirty stove back in the clean space, so I set to deep clean it. I washed the whole stove! The outside was so gross. The bottom drawer was washed in the tub. And I cleaned and cleaned! It took two magic erasers to get all the grime off.

All that cleaning made me late for the ward supper at 4:00pm. I finished/gave up cleaning at 4pm. Quick as I could, I peeled the hard boiled eggs to take. Aaren helped cut and scoop the yolks. I mixed the filling and then headed out. I’m glad we live close to the church. The kids either walked or rode bikes to go before me. Jeff home stayed at home with a headache.

I got to the church 30minutes late. After the meal, there was a few games for the adults. Later, they let the kids play. This is Rebekka trying to get an oreo from her forehead to her mouth without touching the cookie with her hands.

Cassandra left the party early to go to Hope Roach’s house. She called my cellphone she phoned to ask if she could tag along while Hope went babysitting to Aunt Heather and Uncle Dallin’s house. 

Early this morning Devin and Brandon went with Boyd to Fernie. The boys took one last mountain bike trip before the snow flies. A couple of weeks ago, Devin Boyd and James went out biking. They had to come home early because of a technical problem on the chair lift. That week the hill closed early and offered vouchers for a return trip. Devin and Boyd were delighted. Brandon was home this weekend and decided to go too. The boys got home around 8:15pm. They had a safe adventurous biking day with no major mishaps.

As soon as Devin walked in the door, he dropped his stuff and then he and Aaren went off to a song practice. They sing in church tomorrow.

Brandon showed me a bunch of his videos of his runs. The boys are CRAZY. 

At 10pm, Devin called me to have me come to the church to listen to the practice. They needed some reassurance for their sound check. Can’t wait to hear them again tomorrow!!

Preparation

I awoke to my alarm and went downstairs to wake the boys up for school. This is what I saw in the basement.

The light over the fireplace was on, the TV was on, and Devin was asleep on the couch in full camo gear. He has been shopping and preparing over the last few days for his next job (temporary) which starts next week. On Sunday he leaves for Vanderhoof, BC as a moose hunting guide. He will be back the middle of October. I’m not sure I’m ready for this leave!!

He’s had to purchase a lot of gear to get outfitted to go. It is an exciting opportunity that is making Brandon insanely jealous!!

This afternoon started another year of Afterschool Adventures. I was grateful that FCSS renewed my work contract despite the low number of hours I’ll be getting. In the program today, there were only 10 girls in attendance. It was so quiet and easygoing. We made apple decorations, applesauce and dried apples. A lovely afternoon.

After show choir today, Jeff and Aaren went to Lethbridge. Just before 7pm I got texts from Jeff. He wanted to buy this stove for me!!

It’s very similar to my current stove. And on sale!

We would purchase this new stove for me and take our current stove to our rental. Their stove isn’t working properly. I’m not one to jump at a purchase like this and because it was totally unexpected, I took a long time deciding what to do. Poor Aaren. He had to wait in front of the stove so nobody purchased it while Jeff and I decided what to do.

After being assured I could return it for full purchase price if I didn’t like it, they bought the stove and brought it home. 

Yay me!!

The space for the new stove was disgustingly dirty. How does it even do that?!

I wasn’t putting a new appliance back in that despite what Jeff may think, so I spent some time cleaning it out.

After!
There was a lot of grime under there.

It was getting late by the time I finished the clean. I had a long day and was exhausted. Jeff offered to hook up the new stove and get it in place. I went to bed.

Just a few photos from the Welcome Back Family BBQ & Meet The Staff evening. We (well, the bigger family members) enjoyed the pulled pork buns, coleslaw and chips and cookies. We arrived at the same time as Aunt Cara so we sat with them. Jeff attended with us this year. The three big boys didn’t come. They had to fend for themselves at home. 

It was a little chilly for outside eating but I had my sweater so I was fine. 


I met briefly with each of the children’s teachers. This was an assignment about Evan in his classroom. The older sisters have been teasing him about being afraid of biger dogs. Bigger dogs are more scary. 

Savanna’s locker. 

The kids think it’s hilarious that they can fit in the lockers.

I think it’s hilarious when they get stuck. Right Maren?

We have great schools and dedicated caring staff here in Raymond.